Asia In Brief Staff at services giant DXC’s Australian outpost will go on strike this week after 14 months of negotiations over a new pay agreement failed.
The union representing the workers, Professionals Australia (PA), told The Register “Many DXC employees have not received a pay rise in five years” and pointed out that the cost of living in Australia has increased “by more than twenty-four per cent” over that time.
The Union also pointed out that Australian banks and government agencies outsource IT work to DXC, meaning the strike action is potentially disruptive to the public.
A DXC spokesperson sent The Register the following statement: “We respect the right of our employees to participate in protected industrial action. We continue to bargain in good faith and look forward to finalising the new agreement.”
Iran war and inflation may slow APAC IT spend
The war in Iran may slow IT spending across the Asia-Pacific region according to analyst firm Forrester.
Frederic Giron, a VP and senior research director at the firm last week forecast that tech spending in the region will grow 9.3 percent in 2026, “driven by software, services, communications equipment, and tech outsourcing.”
The analyst also predicted hardware sales would lead growth, surging by 13.7 percent thanks to hyperscalers building AI-optimized data centers.
But Giron also worries that exchange rate fluctuations will hurt APAC buyers.
“In Australia, software inflation is running at nearly four times the general consumer price index,” he observed, before noting that tariffs and component shortages are sending hardware prices higher.
“The 9.3 percent growth figure includes these price increases, which means the real volume of technology acquired is growing more slowly than the headline suggests,” he said.
Giron also warned the war in Iran may further slow spending, because 75 percent of the oil that flows through the Strait of Hormuz goes to China, India, Japan, and South Korea.
“If the disruption persists beyond Q2 2026, the GDP compression across energy-importing APAC markets will tighten IT budgets – particularly in Japan, South Korea, Thailand, and parts of South Asia,” he warned.
Rival analyst firm IDC has already predicted spending on PCs will decline in the region.
IDC last week found shipments of PCs across Asia last year grew by 11.6 percent to reach 106.6 million units.
This year, the firm expects shipments to decline 13.7 percent due to component shortages.
Maciek Gornicki, IDC’s APAC senior research manager for devices said memory-makers’ move to prioritize datacenter products “is disrupting PC supply, with vendors struggling to secure the memory components needed to build new systems.”
“We expect these shortages to drive prices higher and soften overall demand,” he said. “In Asia-Pacific, vendors are anticipated to prioritize mature markets with higher ASPs to protect margins, while emerging economies – particularly Southeast Asia – will face the greatest impact from both product shortages and rising prices, as these markets are more reliant on low-end devices and consumers are especially sensitive to cost increases.”
Japanese giants may combine power chip businesses
Toshiba, Mitsubishi, and ROHM have started talks to combine their semiconductor businesses.
As explained in a statement from Toshiba, the three companies think collaboration might “realize a business scale and technological foundation capable of competing in the global market … maximizing the corporate value of the integrated entity.”
In 2023, Toshiba and ROHM started talks about collaborating on power semiconductors – chips that manage energy in electronic devices – and after Japan’s government approved those talks on grounds that joint work would stabilize supply chains. The two are now “advancing discussions on collaborative manufacturing initiatives.”
The three companies are at pains to point out that last week’s announcement of talks is just that – no decisions have been made, and a tie-up is not certain.