A few weeks back I attended the Golden Horseshoe Venture Forum of which we are one of the sponsors. At this session, the keynote speaker was Duncan Stewart, the Director of Research at Deloitte. His presentation was humorous, very well delivered and exceptionally interesting. I was particularly fascinated by some of his tech predictions for 2012.
Deloitte’s Tech Predictions from 2010
Mobile OS
Deloitte predicted that mobile OS diversity will continue. This can be seen today, although Apple’s mobile operating system has a growing presence there is still no clear winner in the mobile OS battle.
Tablets
Tablet oriented computers and the use of tablets like computers in the enterprise will gain real traction in 2011. The growth of the iPad and other tablets both for personal and corporate use is staggering. Apple’s growing cash pile is a testament to that.
Battery Power
Battery power will not make great leaps forward. For all of us using laptops, tablets or other mobile devices, we know this to be true.
TV & Media
TV is still a real driver from a media perspective. The amount of time spent watching TV is still exceptionally strong.
WiFi
They predicted that WiFi will compliment broadband networks and were right. How many place today offer free WiFi? Lots!
Deloitte’s Tech Predictions for 2012
Big Data
This is going to be a real growth area over the next few years, keep an eye on it.
NFC (Near Field Communications) and Mobile Devices
The use of NFC in mobile devices is going to happen and is being pushed by a number of large players including the mobile operators, credit card companies and others.
Consumer Electronics Spending will Continue to be Strong
In Duncan’s presentation, there was an interesting chart that showed consumer spending on household goods, clothing and food has dropped from over 45% of disposable income to under 20% since 1948. This money is now being allocated to other spending areas.
Below are a couple notes of interest that I felt should be shared; they aren’t really predications, rather they are closer to market observations:
Computers/Laptops
Don’t Forget About the Classic Computer/Laptop Software Market. The majority of users still have laptops and work on them regularly (usually for most of their working day).
Apple
Apple’s iPhone and iPad devices are driving over 80% of all data traffic usage from a mobile perspective. What a wild statistic. Although Android is selling a ton of devices like Apple, the real data winner (and then revenue winner) is Apple.
The GHVF’s next event is being held on June 6th and the keynote speaker will be Garth Jestley, Deputy Chairman of Middlefield Capital Corporation and he will be speaking on the Personal Reflections on Risk vs Return.
