Briefing paper on

Computer
Hardware and
Software
Background
A computer is the integration of hardware- a physical or
mechanical object, device, instrument or technology - with
software - the art or knowledge required to run that technology.
Computers are used in businesses, government and households.
Computer use has increased significantly over the past few years. Smaller
version of computers are today being widely used including tablets, mobile
phones, mini computers and gadgets. The number of computers being imported into
Nepal has increased significantly in recent years fuelled by the growing accessibility
of internet services. It is however difficult to estimate the number of hardware and
software imports into Nepal because the database has not been maintained.
This collaborative research between Institute for Social and Environmental TransitionNepal (ISET-Nepal), Federation of Computer Association Nepal (CAN)
and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) aims to
address this gap by conducting a survey, the first of its kind, on
the imports and exports of computers and its peripherals. The
aim is to produce a status report depicting the current situation
of Nepals computer market. As this is a summary, it will only
present highlights from the research rather than a detailed
analysis. The full version of the report will be available from ISETNepal and CAN upon printing.

Study Method
This study used an exploratory method to gather information as baseline information
was not readily available. Purposive sampling of the respondents was undertaken.
Respondents were selected from CANs network. From CANs 1900 registered members,
82 respondents were selected for hardware questionnaire survey and another 82
respondents for software. Two sets of questions were designed and circulated
among the respondents of each category. There were 144 questions for the hardware
component and 112 questions for the software component. The objective was to
better understand the different components of hardware and software. Since the
major Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) businesses are concentrated
in the inner core of Kathmandu, the respondents were selected from the core area
particularly New Road, Putalisadak and New Baneshwor. The survey was conducted
between March and September 2014.

Local Market
-34%

Findings
HARDWARE
Findings showed an overall scenario of computer imports and sales in Kathmandu valley. Computers
and other accessories were predominantly imported from China and Singapore. About 67% of
the respondent said they import from abroad, whereas the remaining 33% purchased from local
distributors. Hardware imports were higher than the sales rate forcing distributors and retailers to
store their products, taking a risk that the product might become outdated and unsellable.

Standard size -36.6%

Rest of the
world -67%

Convertible -8.6%

Hong Kong -7%

Ultralight -9.7%

120000
100000

Others -15%

51000

80000

China -23%

60000

Ultrabook -18.8%

30000

40000
20000
0
Notebook/Netbook -26.4%

65000

39000

Laptop

Desktop

Import

Singapore -22%

Sales

SOFTWARE
The Nepali market is full of projects from both the domestic and
offshore sectors. The rising demand for software applications
has created employment opportunities. The private software
development industry has the potential to earn foreign currency
because of the opportunities created by outsourcing software and
application.

SALES
RATIO

4 The sales ratio of software development in the foreign market

is about 50%, whereas, it is 25% for the domestic market.

4 The most productive and the highest earning age-group (51%)

ranges from 25-34.

4 Only 16% of the companies have received ISO (International

Standard Organization) certification 9001.

PRODUCTIVE AGE GROUP WITH

RESPECT TO INCOME

Software environment
setting service -3%

ISO 9001 CERTIFIED

Above 45, 15%

BPO,KPO -4%

Yes - 16%

Software license sales -8%

Software service -10%
35-44, 34%
Developing software in
domestic market -25%

No - 84%

Developing software in
foreign market -50%

25-34, 51%

PROGRAMMING LANGAUGE

WAYS FORWARD
30.0%

1. Government of Nepal should

implement policy changes to
prioritize ICT.
2. This survey shows the possibility
of recognizing ICT as an industry.
3. Determine the potential of
software exports.
4. Scope of the research can be
broadened in future by including
relevant businesses from regions
across Nepal.

25.4%

25.0%
20.0%

21.4%

21.7%
18.9%

15.0%
9.5%
8.0%

10.0%

7.0%
5.8%

5.0%
0.0%

Java

C#

VB

4.9%
2.9%
C/C++

9.5%
6.5%

9.5%
9.4%

15.2%
12.8%

3.3%

3.3% 2.9%

PL/SQL

T-SQL

PHP

ASP

HTML

2.2%

Objective-C

PHP is the most popular programming language for both offshore and domestic projects where
21.4% of domestic projects and 25.4% of offshore projects use the language. JAVA is the second
most popular language followed by HTML.
PUBLISHED ON APRIL 2015

For details of the study please contact ISET-Nepal at iset@ntc.net.np and CAN at info@can.org.np