Fast 500 companies: Only 1 from Malaysia, 3 from Singapore

• China, India and Australia lead growth of top tech companies in Asia Pacific
• 8 of the top 10 fastest growing companies in the Internet or software sector

DELOITTE Touche Tohmatsu Limited (DTTL) has released its 2013 Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific ranking of the 500 fastest-growing technology, media and telecommunications companies, which saw only one Malaysian and three Singaporean companies making the grade.
 
Now in its 12^th year, the rankings were dominated by companies from Australia, China (including Hong Kong) and India. The other countries monitored were Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and Taiwan.
 
Ranked No 52 was MSC Malaysia status project management and business intelligence company The eCEOs Sdn Bhd, moving up from its No 146 position in the 2012 rankings. The company was founded in 2007 by former Accenture employee Jailani Mustafa.
 
From Singapore, three companies made the list, with the No 25 being MatchMove Global Pte Ltd, which provides games, social networking and a site gamification platform for online businesses to better engage with their customers.
 
Not far behind at No 29 was JamiQ Private Ltd, which allows customers to monitor social media across various Asian languages and markets; while No 100 was payment solutions company 2C2P Pte Ltd.
 
Meanwhile, the overall regional No 1 was Taiwan-based China Communications Media Group, a mobile software channel that develops, operates and delivers software on both feature and smartphones.
 
The company specialises in applications for mobile phones and offers an effective channel to deliver applications to mobile end-users. China Communications Media Group currently has more than 100 million mobile phone subscribers and grew its revenue 266 times over the past three years, DTTL said in a statement.
 
This is the seventh time that the No 1 has come from Taiwan over the past 12 years.

“China, India and Australia are generating an increasing number of fast-growing, successful technology companies and are challenging Taiwan as a technology hub in the region,” said Ichiro Nakayama (pic), leader of DTTL’s Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific programme.
 
“All three markets have shown an increase in the number of companies ranked among the 500 fastest-growing businesses for the past three years, indicating that breakthrough innovation is being cultivated in these markets,” he added.
 
Revenue growth trends
 
The top 500 companies averaged a revenue growth of 356%, staggering by any measure, though this figure is down from last year’s average growth of 467%, DTTL said in its statement.
 
The top 5 winners realised an average revenue growth of 10,589%, higher than that of the Top 5 of the four previous years of the programme, and the top 10 giants reached 6,483%, against 5209% in 2012.
 
In addition, a total of nine firms posted revenues surpassing US$1 billion in 2013 and 60 companies had revenues in the range of US$100 million – US$1 billion.
 
“Asia Pacific technology companies continue to fare well in spite of both the slowdown in the China economy and the sluggish economic growth in the United States and Europe,” said Jolyon Barker (pic), global managing director, Technology, Media & Telecommunications at DTTL.
 
“The growth coming from these Asian companies, whose achievements we benchmark at the Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific programme, is truly impressive, especially at a time when economic challenges continue to impose substantive challenges for development.”
 
Geographic trends
 
With 128 companies ranked in the top 500, China emerged this year as the market with the most fast-growing companies in Asia Pacific. China’s ranking has improved year after year, rising from No 2 behind Taiwan in 2012 and No 3 in 2011 behind Taiwan and South Korea.
 
Similarly, India has risen from fifth place with the number of companies ranked in the top 500 in 2011 and 2012, to third place this year, with a total of 78 ranked companies, DTTL said.
 
This year’s runner-up, Ardom Telecom, is a product of Indian telecommunications and networking innovation; though within the India market, it is the software sector that continues to dominate the leader board, contributing 62% of India’s fastest growing companies.
 
Taiwan, which ranked No 1 last year, ranks No 2 in 2013 with 108 companies in the top 500 and continues to be competitive in the technology sector in spite of its much smaller population in comparison with markets such as China and India.
 
Australia had 66 companies ranked in the top 500, six more than in 2012 and 13 more than in 2011.
 
Ranked No 63 was Melbourne-headquartered online measurement specialist and digital media planning solutions and research provider Effective Measure.

“Our inclusion in the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific reflects the dedicated work and commitment to the region that out team throughout the Asia Pacific has made over the last few years,” said Effective Measure chief executive officer Richard Webb.
 
“This regional acknowledgment assists in enhancing our charter to provide disruptive solutions to the emerging markets of the world,” he said in a statement issued by Effective Measure.
 
Effective Measure will be operational in 41 countries by year-end with recent expansion to markets such as New Zealand, Hong Kong, Kenya, Morocco, Zimbabwe and Nigeria.
 
DTTL’s Joshua Tanchel said, “In the traditional business world, Australian company growth may previously have been constrained by the size of the domestic market.
 
“However, in the high growth digital economy that is no longer an issue. By utilising the Internet and mobile technology Australian tech companies are building businesses that compete and win globally,” he said.
 
As for Japan, which ranked seventh in terms of number of companies in the top 500, it distinguished itself by being the only market with two in the top five: Locondo Inc, an e-commerce company selling shoes and bags online; and Donuts Co Ltd, a mobile social game and social services provider.
 
Sector trends
 
When it comes to technology sectors, interesting trends are emerging, including those in mobile and cloud computing. While five out of the top 10 fastest growing companies in 2012 were in the Internet or software sector, that number jumped to eight of 10 in 2013, including this year’s winner, China Communications Media Group.
 
Leading the list with 161 companies, the software sector saw a notable increase from the 119 companies it claimed in the top 500 in 2012. The semiconductor, components and electronics sector saw a reduction to 116 companies in the top 500, forfeiting its top rank from 2012.
 
Additionally, the Internet sector retained its third place ranking from 2012 to 2013 while showing an overall increase from 85 to 104 companies and boasting six companies within the top 10.
 
The biotechnology/ pharmaceutical/ medical equipment sector ranked fourth overall with 38 companies, outpacing the telecommunications and networking sector, which logged 31 companies and one top 5 spot with Ardom Telecom.
 
The computers and peripherals category yielded 20 firms in the top 500, while the media and entertainment sector and green technology sector produced 16 and 14 companies, respectively.

Private and listed
 
Privately-owned firms continue to dominate, evidenced by the 330 private companies making up the top 500 this year. That number has seen moderate growth from its total of 305 in 2012. The ratio of publicly-owned firms in the top 500 was 34% in 2013.
 
To download the full 6MB report, click here.
 
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