Singapore contact center market nearing saturation

The country is already on the high end of the growth curve along with Hong Kong and Taiwan, says Frost & Sullivan.

The three nations are facing signs of saturation in contact center outsourcing, as the number of providers grow in a more rapid pace than what domestic demand requires.

In contrast, the rest of the Asia Pacific region is not nearly as saturated and will be in better position to take advantage of contact centr growth.

Frost & Sullivan predicts that the Asia Pacific will also demonstrate the highest growth in the global contact center outsourcing in 2012 and beyond.

"With the global economic downturn heaving its last gasp in 2010, enterprises are reviving expenditure on customer service. To meet the rising customer demand, the region recorded a 9.7 percent growth in contact center agent seats to reach 2.5 million in 2011, and by 2018, it is expected to have grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.1 percent to touch 4.0 million. All emerging markets are expected to maintain double digit growth for the same period, leading the overall market development for Asia Pacific," said Frost & Sullivan.

"Much of this growth will be driven by the upswing in domestic demand, especially from the telecommunications and banking and finance (BFS) sectors. However, this rapid growth in the number of contact center outsourcers will spark off concerns about market saturation," it said.

"Markets in countries such as Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan are already showing signs of saturation and are on the higher-end of the growth curve," it added.