Singapore’s Furniture Industry: Internationalisation Trends

November 13th, 2014

Tags: Annual Furniture Industry Survey 2013-14, Singapore Furniture Outlook 2014, Singapore’s Furniture Industry: Internationalisation Trends

Internationalisation has long been a focal feature of Singaporean businesses; with the country measuring one full marathon across and half a marathon from top to bottom, the country offers limited expansion possibilities domestically. In view of this, many furniture companies have since sought their fortunes overseas.

Consistent with previous findings, Malaysia and China remain the top overseas locations for operations. Industry players have long lamented the lack of access to necessary resources, especially in seeking land and necessary labour for production facilities in Singapore, and have thereby relocated the majority of their productions overseas.

In fact, many Singaporean businesses’ appetites for internationalisation extends beyond merely shifting their production capabilities to low-cost regions. Amongst those surveyed in this round of surveys, 49% of the firms have expressed their intentions to further their expansion overseas with much more focus on establishing permanent operations such as sales offices or physical outlets.

In terms of reaching out to new markets through sales, Myanmar and Indonesia remain popular choices this year. Europe is clearly the most attractive region for Singapore furniture businesses, and of those who cited Europe, 28% expressed particular interest in Germany. This was followed by interest in the UK, which sat at 22%.

Where are the markets for future growth?

As expected, the larger the business, the higher the probability of having existent overseas operations. Of the various existent overseas operations recorded, 85% belonged to Singapore furniture businesses with a revenue of SGD 5 million and above. In fact, 44% of these establishments belong specifically to firms with revenues of SGD 20 to 79.9 million. It is apparent that internationalisation is highly related to the business’s size, and it scales up rapidly when firms reach the mark of SGD 5 million and beyond.

Excerpt from Singapore Furniture Outlook 2014, spearheaded by Singapore Furniture Industries Council and SPRING Singapore.

INDESIGN is on instagram

Follow @indesignlive

An untethered design for a fluid workplace: Joel Sampson discusses the Bay Work Pod

How can design empower the individual in a workplace transforming from a place to an activity? Here, Design Director Joel Sampson reveals how prioritising human needs – including agency, privacy, pause and connection – and leveraging responsive spatial solutions like the Herman Miller Bay Work Pod is key to crafting engaging and radically inclusive hybrid environments.

The uncharted plate: Ivan Brehm’s pursuit of crossroads cooking with Gaggenau and human connection.

In this candid interview, the culinary mastermind behind Singapore’s Nouri and Appetite talks about food as an act of human connection that transcends borders and accolades, the crucial role of technology in preserving its unifying power, and finding a kindred spirit in Gaggenau’s reverence for tradition and relentless pursuit of innovation.