Technology trends

Leading global technology research and advisory firm Ovum recently released a list of the top 10 new technology and innovation trends as seen from the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Ovum notes there were more evolution than revolution to this year’s event, with many companies launching “me-too” or upgraded versions of existing products rather than breakthrough concepts.

Rob Gallagher, director for research and analysis, media and entertainment at Ovum, says however this is a “welcome sign of maturity for many new categories, which have suffered from poor design and misguided concepts in the past.”

The first top trend, according to Ovum, is better and cheaper smartphones from Chinese vendors which are expected to make a significant push in the very competitive US market.

Chinese entertainment company LeTV launched Le Max Pro, the first smartphone with Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 820 processor and ultrasonic-based fingerprint technology, while Huawei introduced a phablet designed for the European market (the Mate 8).

The second top trend is from smart watches.

Fitbit and Withings launched advanced versions of their activity trackers to address competition from multipurpose smart watches from Apple, Samsung, and Huawei. Withings Go watch battery, for instance, lasts up to eight months. Samsung and Huawei launched new versions of their latest smart-watch models, featuring more precious materials and premium designs.

Third is new tablet models based on Windows 10 which were launched at CES, including offerings from Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Samsung, mainly targeted at business users.

Ovum notes the Samsung TabPro S was the most surprising announcement and is well positioned to compete with Microsoft’s Surface Pro 4 and Apple’s iPad Pro throughout 2016.

The fourth trend is business-class computers people want to be seen with.

The Apple MacBook Air, Microsoft Surface Pro, and Dell XPS 13 are just three examples of computers favored by “the Technorati,” Ovum says, but for the rest of us, Dell for instance has finally realized that looks do matter, as it announced an expanded line-up of commercial devices, most of which offered enhanced design aesthetics to complement the security, manageability, and reliability features that are generally of prime interest to IT purchasing managers.

“In 2015, Microsoft partnered with Dell (and HP) to sell and support the Microsoft Surface Pro 3 in the North American corporate market, but, with its new Latitude 12 7000, Dell believes it can offer a sexier, lighter, and more feature-loaded tablet than Microsoft’s Surface. Dell also claims the Latitude 13 7000 Series Ultrabook is the world’s smallest 13-inch business-class PC, and that by using space-age materials, such carbon fiber, the computer can endure the rigor of heavy business use while maintaining an attractive allure,” Ovum said.

Fifth trend: high-dynamic range or HDR.

LG, Samsung, and Sony brought down ultra high-definition 4K entry-level prices by bringing the technology to their low-tier product lines. All major TV manufacturers now feature HDR on all 4K TV models including Chinese vendors such as HiSense and TCL.

The UHD Alliance, a trade association of over 35 companies that includes Dolby, LG, Netflix, Panasonic, and Samsung, agreed on a new standard and logo to capture HDR capability called Ultra High Definition Premium.

UHD and HDR standardization will have a significant impact on 4K TV adoption as non-HDR capable TVs will not be compatible with most 4K set-top boxes and pay-TV services. In addition, HDR significantly enhances the 4K experience, driving consumers’ purchase intention. For the top TV manufacturers, 4K TV sales already generate more than 20 percent of their revenue. This percentage is set to increase rapidly as 4K is cascaded down to other models throughout 2016, Ovum pointed out.

Sixth trend: unified search comes to TV.

Ovum revealed that various companies offered solutions to one of the biggest problems facing modern TV – too much choice. CES 2016 saw many new developments aimed at helping viewers to search and discover TV shows, movies, and other content spread across pay TV, broadcaster catch-up services, and OTT apps such as Netflix. Time Warner Cable’s app integration on LG Web OS 3.0 and Roku OS 7, along with Dish’s new set-top box, the Hopper 4, were among the best demos at CES.

Seventh and eighth trend: auto-makers drive towards a new kind of mobility while strengthening ties with Apple and Google.

From the mass-market brands of Ford, Toyota, and Kia to the luxury brands of Audi and Mercedes, they spoke of autonomous vehicles (computer-controlled cars) for those who are too young or too old to have a driving license, as well as smartphone screen mirroring, and even the most affordable, mass-market vehicles being manufactured with dedicated modems.

Ninth is virtual and augmented reality connecting to the Internet of Things while 10th is Netflix, consumer electronics, content and the cloud.

Ovum said Netflix’s decision to make its service available in a further 130 countries (including the Philippines by the way), taking the total to 190, will have a significant impact on device sales.

Netflix offers subscription-based video-on-demand (SVOD) service.

LG for instance revealed it would work with Netflix to offer prepaid access to the streaming video service which could help attract new subscribers, particularly in emerging markets, where credit and debit card penetration is low.

Meanwhile, Ovum also released its latest report: that of trends in music this year.

As observed by head of music practice and author of the report Simon Dyson: “The recorded music sector of yesterday is quite simply that, a bygone era that is being swept away by shiny new industry players. Music retailers will never sell as many CDs or downloads as they did last year and so services along the music value chain that want to be part of this rapid evolution in recorded music must simply embrace the change and make access work for their business.”

The trends to watch for music this year are: first, that streaming will drive digital music growth in 2016, but will not offset the fall in sales of CDs and downloads; second, intense competition in the music streaming sector will result in more service casualties; and third, controversy over who benefits most from music streaming will continue to make headline news and remain a divisive issue.

The report said that, despite the fact that spending on music subscriptions is increasing, there will be no growth in overall consumer spending on recorded music in 2016. According to Ovum’s latest forecasts, global retail sales of recorded music will edge down 0.5 percent in 2015 and will fall a further 0.2 percent in 2016.

In 2015, subscriptions alone will account for 28 percent of digital spending and 15 percent of the combined digital and physical spending total. Five years ago, barely three percent of retail spending on recorded music came from subscriptions.

As well as growth in streaming revenue, Ovum is expecting the sector to consolidate. Casualties in the race to become the music streaming service of choice are unavoidable. Given the amount of services offering what is essentially the same product to a limited number of customers, company closures and acquisitions are inevitable, it said.

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