Download - Language Services Market Trends - 2010
Language Services Market Trends Nataly Kelly Chief Research Officer
Twitter:@CSA_Research, @natalykelly
Copyright © 2011 by Common Sense Advisory, Inc.
About Common Sense Advisory
Global business and language research
– Translation, localization, globalization, etc.
– Dedicated multinational research team
Independent industry research firm
– Vendor-neutral, buyer-agnostic
– Qualitative and quantitative research
– Interdisciplinary demand-supply methodology
Clients in 30+ countries
How we conduct research
1. Growth
Growth
Common Sense Advisory calculates that the
market for outsourced language services is worth
US$31.438 billion in 2011.
Top 50 = US$4 billion
912 companies surveyed / total LSP population of
25,256
Market growth from 2009 to 2010 (actual reported
supply-side change in revenue) was 7.41%.
Source: “The Language Services Market: 2011,” Common Sense Advisory, Inc.
Actual reported change in revenue from 2008 to 2009
Source: “Language Service Provider Growth Factors,” Common Sense Advisory, Inc.
Actual reported change in revenue from 2008 to 2009
Source: “Language Service Provider Growth Factors,” Common Sense Advisory, Inc.
Technology and experience affect growth
Attitude toward Technology Respondents Average Growth Rate
“We’re for it.” 363 63.94% “We have mixed feelings.” 187 18.33%
“We’re against it.” 18 18.73%
Years in Business Respondents Average Growth Rate 1 to 2 years 53 120.98% 3 to 5 years 114 34.50% 6 to 10 years 164 31.43% 11 to 15 years 137 114.88% 16 to 20 years 117 12.92% 21 to 30 years 85 17.49% More than 30 years 38 8.22%
Actual reported change in revenue from 2008 to 2009
Source: “Language Service Provider Growth Factors,” Common Sense Advisory, Inc.
Which Services Are Growing the Fastest?
Percent 2010
Percent 2011
Percent Change
Translation 60.16 59.32 -1.40 Multimedia localization 9.48 10.20 7.62 Software localization 18.27 16.56 -9.36 Website globalization 19.64 18.31 -6.79 Technology / software 8.65 6.91 -20.15 International testing / QA 6.18 5.81 -6.01 Internationalization services 6.32 4.06 -35.75 Business process outsourcing 3.85 2.74 -28.76 On-site interpreting 12.36 13.71 10.90 Telephone interpreting 7.42 7.79 5.02 Video interpreting 2.47 3.62 46.41 Subtitling 5.49 5.59 1.74 Voice-over / dubbing / narration 7.42 6.47 -12.78 Transcreation 4.53 4.61 1.70 Other services 5.08 6.14 20.81
Source: “The Language Services Market: 2011,” Common Sense Advisory, Inc.
2. Fragmentation
Source: “The Language Services Market: 2011,” Common Sense Advisory, Inc.
3. Maturity
Source: “The Localization Maturity Model 2.0,” Common Sense Advisory, Inc.
Source: “The Localization Maturity Model 2.0,” Common Sense Advisory, Inc.
4. Vendor Management
Source: “How Buyers Manage Translation Suppliers,” Common Sense Advisory, Inc.
Source: “How Buyers Manage Translation Suppliers,” Common Sense Advisory, Inc.
Source: “How Buyers Manage Translation Suppliers,” Common Sense Advisory, Inc.
5. Speed
Global social media
6. Pricing
Source: “Translation and Localization Pricing,” Common Sense Advisory, Inc.
Source: “Translation and Localization Pricing,” Common Sense Advisory, Inc.
Source: “Translation and Localization Pricing,” Common Sense Advisory, Inc.
Source: “Translation and Localization Pricing,” Common Sense Advisory, Inc.
Source: “Translation and Localization Pricing,” Common Sense Advisory, Inc.
What you need to know about pricing
Language combinations involving some languages have
stabilized; room for price compression still exists for many
languages
Quality matters more for more mature buyers, yet very few
mature buyers exist
Don’t immediately assume the low cost = low quality
What to do about low-cost competition: out-market, out-
sell, and out-perform them
Yes, prices could eventually increase – but it’s unlikely
Source: “Translation and Localization Pricing,” Common Sense Advisory, Inc.
7. Transcreation
Transcreation vs. translation
Purpose – evoke a response or reaction
Project types – more limited, marketing & advertising
Providers – specialist LSPs, MLVs, ad agencies
Volumes – less than 5,000 words
Turnaround time – hours or days
Starting point – a creative brief
Resources – bilingual creative writers
Costs – more $$$, billed by hour or project, not by word
Based on 30 interviews and a survey of 380 transcreation participants
8. Crowdsourcing
What you may not know about crowdsourcing
Reasons?
– Speed and quality
The people behind it?
– Often not the same people who buy localization/translation
elsewhere in the organization
Why are translators willing to work for free?
– Mostly not translators, but bilinguals with subject matter
expertise
Three crowdsourced translation models
Cause-driven
– Response to floods in Pakistan, earthquakes in Haiti
– Media – demand for foreign content
Product-driven
– Symantec
– Adobe
Outsourcing-driven
– servioTranslate
– OneHourTranslation
How translators make money from crowdsourcing
Community moderation
Editing, review, validation
Terminology management
Project management
Recruitment
9. Machine Translation
10. Globalization
Other factors related to globalization
Not only are more of the buyers going global…
More LSPs are too!
Global trade – critical indicator to pay attention to for
language pairs and growth sectors
Content growth and web globalization
Final thoughts
“The age of the empowered buyer”
– Quality measurement driven by buyers
– More innovation happening on buyer side
– With maturity comes empowerment
Need for innovation and collaboration
– Growth has stifled innovation to a great degree
– Fragmentation has thwarted collaboration in many ways
– Tremendous desire among buyers to throw everything “over the
fence”
How will these trends affect our future strategy?
Q&A
Thank you!
Nataly Kelly
+1.978.275.0500 x1203
Research: www.commonsenseadvisory.com
Blog: www.globalwatchtower.com
Twitter: @CSA_Research, @natalykelly
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