Philippines topples India, but has a long way to go

But the country which has been toppled from the perch seems hardly perturbed. 

According to estimates, Philippines’ call centre industry generated a revenue of $5.5 billion in 2010 a little above the $5.3 billion earned by the Indian industry. According to Gaurav Gupta, country head of Everest Group, Philippines and India are still in a neck-to-neck race with 35 percent and 33 percent of the global call center market, respectively.

“We all knew this was going to happen and it is not that Philippines has taken away our lunch,” said Ganesh Natarajan, CEO of Zensar Technologies. “The Filipinos have been ruled by USA for over 100 years. They have better accent and cultural affinity to Americans, and enjoy a natural advantage in call centre business,” said Raju Bhatnagar, Vice President, Nasscom.

Equal cost

The call centre salaries in Philippines are reportedly 20 to 25 per cent higher than in India. But wage inflation in India and the added cost of providing security and transport have made the cost of operation in both the countries comparable, said Natarajan.

“Unlike in India where the company has to provide for transportation, in Manila, call centre employees commute to office on their own. It is a much easier place to do business,” he added. 

The $9.5 billion Filipino BPO industry is behind its $12.4 billion Indian counterpart, but growing faster. In the last two years it has grown at a compounded 28 per cent, twice faster than Indian BPO growth of 12 per cent. If the present growth trends continue, Philippines may challenge India in the non-voice business as well in the next few years, say reports.

Leader in non-voice

But experts say it won’t be easy catching up with India in the more lucrative non-voice segment. India has 50 per cent of global non-voice market and Philippines has just 10 per cent, says Gupta. Non-voice business requires knowledge of IT, apps and processes and a Filipino challenge is years away, says Natarajan. Besides there is higher margins in non-voice biz.

Nasscom has long maintained that India has outgrown the low-margin voice business. Indian firms would continue to offer voice as a component of a wider bouquet of services to their clients. “Indian firms have made substantial investment in Philippines to offer voice services to their clients,” said Bhatnagar. Indian industry has no reason to give up voice business, says Natarajan.

The government should develop smaller cities and address security and transportation issues more seriously. “Don’t treat IT as a mature industry that can take care of its problems on its own. It still needs to be nourished,” he adds.