Digital Lifescapes

Wearables have gained some momentum with fitness bands and smart watches for consumers. Fitbit and Apple are the key category leaders in these markets, with others providing alternative ecosystems around similar functionality. Early adopters and the fitness conscious embraced these devices, but there's been little growth beyond this market segment. Now that's about to change, with commercial applications for smart glasses and the development of compelling new use cases. Smart Glasses Market Development Smart Glasses are the highest growth sector of the consumer wearables segment over the next five years, reaching 11 percent of the overall wearables market by 2021, according to the latest market study by Juniper Research. Revenues are forecast to grow from $327 million in 2017, to $9 billion in 2021 as the new generation of smart glasses emerges. The new study also found that the dominant wearables categories of smart watches and fitness wearables, have begun to slow. ...

Wireless communications sector continues a global expansion. The broadband 4G LTE market is forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20 percent, from $1.1 billion in 2015 to reach $2.6 billion in 2020, according to the latest worldwide market study by IHS Markit. The total addressable market for private LTE is compounded by increasing revenues from both devices and evolved Node Bs (eNBs) shipped for use on private networks that are based on wireless cellular technology. Demand has increased for data alongside voice communications within a range of applications. The broadband market is opening up to multiple sectors -- such as public safety and security, transportation, military, utilities, industrial and public access mobile radio. Private LTE Market Development Mobile communication users are now requiring high bandwidth solutions to facilitate applications such as video streaming, internet access and advanced mapping use cases. "Broadband-capable tech...

Worldwide spending on digital transformation (DX) technologies will reach more than $1.2 trillion in 2017 -- that's an increase of 17.8 percent over 2016, according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). IDC expects overall digital growth spending to maintain this pace with a CAGR of 17.9 percent over the 2015 to 2020 forecast period -- eventually reaching an impressive $2 trillion in 2020. Digital Transformation Market Development "Changing competitive landscapes are disrupting businesses and creating an imperative to invest in digital technologies, unleashing the power of information across the enterprise and thereby improving the customer experience," said Eileen Smith, program director at IDC . In 2017, global organizations will invest $1.2 trillion on digital transformation projects with discrete and process manufacturers contributing almost 30 percent of this spending, while the fastest growth will come from the retail, healthcar...

As the Internet of Things (IoT) market matures during 2017, there's an increased focus on IoT service development, as more vendors explore the various new applications that are helping to stimulate growth in the sector. That said, many more devices will be 'online' this year. Many for the first time. It's estimated that 8.4 billion connected 'things' will be in use worldwide in 2017 --that's up 31 percent from 2016, and will reach 20.4 billion by 2020, according to the latest market study by Gartner. As a result, total spending on endpoints and IoT services will reach almost $2 trillion in 2017. Moreover, Greater China, North America and Western Europe are driving the use of connected things and it's estimated that the three regions together will represent 67 percent of the overall IoT installed base in 2017. Internet of Things Market Development  The consumer segment is the largest user of connected things, with 5.2 billion units in 2017. That r...

Since the rise of the smartphone, the term 'smart' may simply mean that a device has on-board wireless internet connectivity. Therefore, a Smart Home is one that is designed to deliver or distribute digital services, through a range of networked devices. Smart home automation and monitoring devices will grow to over 770 million globally by 2021, representing an eleven-fold rise from just 68 million estimated in 2016, according to the latest market study by Juniper Research. Smart Home Application Market Development The new study found that increasing adoption of platform evangelism and openness to partnerships is boosting third party application development of devices, especially within developed markets. Indeed, the study findings uncovered that North America, Far East & China and Western Europe will account for almost 75 percent of all households adopting the technology in 2021. Moreover, home automation hardware sales are rapidly exceeding subscription services...

Worldwide spending on public cloud services and infrastructure will reach $122.5 billion in 2017 -- that's an increase of 24.4 percent over 2016, according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). Over the 2015-2020 forecast period, overall public cloud spending will experience a 21.5 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) -- that's nearly seven times the rate of overall IT spending growth. By 2020, IDC forecasts public cloud spending will reach $203.4 billion worldwide. Public Cloud Market Development Software as a Service (SaaS) will remain the market leader, capturing nearly two thirds of all public cloud spending in 2017 and roughly 60 percent in 2020. However, spending on Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS) will grow at much faster rates than SaaS, with five-year CAGRs of 30.1 percent and 32.2 percent, respectively. "In 2017, discrete manufacturing, professional services, and banking will lead th...

Digital entertainment will continue to evolve in 2017. In the mobile space, online video gaming has changed, with a move away from longer form Role Playing Games (RPG), to shorter games which allow greater interaction with other players. That said, casual games maintain their dominance in this industry. However, there's a significant rise in popularity of titles such as 'Clash Royale' which are competitive, short-form games that also integrate the idea of clans or teams of players. Aided by the adoption of popular franchises onto mobile devices, 2016 has seen strong growth in the number of games accessed on smartphones. Both new, optimized titles -- in terms of engagement and revenue generation -- and reworked classics have proved to be a hit with consumers. Video Game Market Development A new study from Juniper Research has found that revenues from the global digital games market are set to reach the $100 billion milestone by the end of this year. That's an ama...

Enterprise networking vendors and telecommunication service providers encountered a series of challenges in 2016, as more customers shifted their focus from managing business technology investment to the strategic procurement of products and services related to digital transformation projects. That's why investments in fiber networks, 5G wireless, NFV and SDN will be critical for telecom service providers to keep pace with market demand over the next five years, as more CIOs integrate next-generation technologies into their IT environments, according to the latest market study by Technology Business Research (TBR). Enterprise IT Market Development IT services remained the largest enterprise segment in 3Q16, with combined revenue among benchmark companies rising 9 percent year-to-year to reach $11.7 billion due to growth in demand for Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing and IT security. Furthermore, the divestment of Verizon and CenturyLink data centers illustrate that...

The senior executives who approve the purchase of business technology, and the industry analysts that influence them, have been very clear that they expect IT vendors to understand and respond to complex digital transformation agendas. That said, many vendors have a go-to-market strategy that hasn't evolved in a decade or more, and it's impacting their growth potential. The few that are attuned to the IT market of today are reaping the rewards. Meanwhile, 451 Research indicates that while 49.4 percent of enterprises are undergoing major IT transformation initiatives, which often include migration of current workloads to public cloud services, server spending remains steady. IT Server Market Development However, many IT buyers say their server vendors must demonstrate that they understand their business requirements, which is an increasingly important factor with cloud services and low-cost infrastructure underpinning software-defined IT environments. "There is a ...

As the array of mobile services and delivery devices continues to evolve, mobile network operator competition has intensified. With many over-the-top players now providing popular alternatives to texting and voice calls, telecom service provider core revenues are eroding. Meanwhile, Juniper Research has calculated that mobile network operators can capture an additional $85 billion in revenues over the next five years, through the deployment and enhancement of non-core services -- including Big Data analytics and the Internet of Things (IoT). MNO Market Development Opportunities The new research found that there was a significant opportunity for mobile network operators to move beyond connectivity provisioning, by selling their customer data to clients in both raw and analyzed forms. They could monetize data models, including pay-per usage, metered usage and results-based fees. Besides, clients would likely benefit from these offerings, resulting in a demonstrable return on i...

After an initial market launch that lacked available media, virtual reality (VR) platforms are now ready to thrive from the introduction of compelling new content. According to the latest market study by ABI Research, total VR device shipments will reach 110 million units by 2021. While mobile device-reliant VR shipments -- such as Samsung Gear VR and Google Daydream -- dwarf other VR device types, standalone devices will experience a 405 percent CAGR through 2021, compared to a 42 percent CAGR for mobile VR. Market Development for Virtual Reality Apps New and emerging device vendors -- such as Royole and Pico -- already entered the global arena, with many other Chinese manufacturers poised to expand their presence in this nascent market. Besides, independent software developers are poised to create new apps. "Mobile VR built a solid foundation for the overall market over the past few years, but standalone VR devices will eventually drive it," said Eric Abbruzzese, se...

The healthcare landscape has been subject to significant turbulence due to a broad range of factors -- including escalating costs, widespread regulatory amendments, changing business models, and evolution of the patient-centric paradigm. That said, controlling rising costs and improving operational efficiency in the healthcare IT sector will be a high priority during 2017, as more hospital and clinic organizations seek to document the quality of their care and ramp up patient engagement. Healthcare IT Market Development By 2020, healthcare providers will more than double their spending on technology services, which represents a revenue opportunity of over $9 billion for the healthcare IT outsourcing (ITO) vendors, according to the latest market study by the Everest Group. The healthcare provider segment is poised to be one of the fastest growing segments in the healthcare IT services market in coming years. According to the study findings, accelerated IT investments on the pa...

Online banking is an essential component of today's eCommerce industry, as the two are closely inter-related. eCommerce is the process of buying and selling goods and services via the Internet. It includes a number of financial service types, such as routine banking and funds transfer. By 2021, nearly 3 billion financial services customers will access retail banking via their smartphones, media tablets, PCs and smartwatches -- that's up by 53 percent from this year, according to the latest market study by Juniper Research. Digital Banking Market Development The study found that online usage will continue to rise as consumers increasingly opt for banks offering the convenience of rapid, multi-channel digital services. This means that banks will need to focus on providing a more frictionless digital experience to their customers, especially if they are to remain market leaders. Juniper analysts discovered that while traditional banks have so far remained a step behind i...

Do more, with the same or less budget, was a common information technology (IT) leadership theme last year. The more courageous and resourceful CIOs attempted to fulfill the demands from their line of business leader's expansive digital transformation agenda in 2016. Across all industries, IT procurement had evolved. Exasperated by high expectations and limited resources, some CIOs chose to retire, a few simply resigned and numerous others were told their services were no longer required. Many of those CIOs that stayed had their responsibilities split with a new CTO or CDO executive. Meanwhile, IT vendors had to navigate this increasingly diverse buyer landscape. IT Product & Service Market Development Worldwide vendor revenues for IT products and services are forecast to reach nearly $2.4 trillion in 2017 -- that's an increase of about 3.5 percent over 2016. International Data Corporation (IDC) estimates that global IT spending will grow to nearly $2.65 trillion in 2...

The ongoing shift to cloud computing continues to favor the hyperscale public cloud service providers. That said, there is also a trend to build new local data centers in more countries, where data sovereignty laws require secure storage of data with the nation's border. The worldwide cloud infrastructure services market grew 49 percent annually, reaching $10.3 billion within Q4 2016, according to the latest market study by Canalys. Cloud Infrastructure Market Development AWS continued to dominate with a 33.8 percent global market share, while its three nearest competitors – Microsoft, Google and IBM - together accounted for 30.8 percent of the market. The four leading service providers were followed by Alibaba and Oracle, which made up 2.4 percent and 1.7 percent of the total. Canalys forecast the market will reach $55.8 billion in 2017, representing a 46 percent growth from the total value of $38.1 billion in 2016. Continuing demand is driving the adoption of cloud...

Global consumer electronics vendors experienced a challenging environment in 2016, due to the shift in product preferences of savvy buyers. With the exception of Chromebooks, the personal computing category has not had the market demand or device shipments that could sustain the vendors. Case in point; consumer spending during the holiday quarter of 2016 was clearly not aimed at consuming media tablets, as the market continued its downturn. The fourth quarter of 2016 (4Q16) marked the ninth consecutive quarter that tablet shipments have declined. Media Tablet Market Development Vendors shipped 52.9 million tablets in the fourth quarter, which was a decline of 20.1 percent from the same quarter one year ago, according to the latest worldwide market study by International Data Corporation (IDC) . Similarly, shipments of 174.8 million units for the full year 2016 were down 15.6 percent compared to 2015 -- marking the second straight year of declining shipments of media tablets...

In 2017, we'll discover more about Mixed Reality solutions that combine the best attributes of visual enhancement technologies and associated wearable devices. The rapidly growing AR/VR space continues to be an area for R&D within a number of related tech fields -- including spatial mapping, machine vision, holographics, video distribution and optics. ABI Research has identified several companies that will lead the ongoing shipment of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) head-worn devices, which are forecast to reach 37 million units by 2018, at an 83 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR). Manufacturers in adjacent markets, particularly within the Machine Vision segment, will have the most substantial impact. New companies entering this space will drive overall market development, and help to position Mixed Reality (MR) as a key use case for AR enterprise implementations. Machine Vision Market Development "Machine vision is the driver behind advance...

The Internet of Things (IoT) includes small devices that create a constant steam of data that needs to be captured and interpreted as actionable insight. This use case is especially important within the healthcare sector, where the ongoing analysis of data can be applied to improve a person's life. The gradual change in direction for fitness wearables to become essential healthcare devices will lead to over 75 million Americans using dedicated activity trackers by 2021 -- that's over double the current user base, according to the latest market study by Juniper Research. Healthcare Wearable Market Development The new research has found that this shift in focus will help to alter the consumer perception of wearable trackers, making them seem more necessary to achieving and maintaining good health -- and potentially lower healthcare expenses, based upon lifestyle choices. Vendors like Fitbit, Withings and Misfit are leading this change, making integration with medical data...

In a world of growing IT data that must be interpreted as meaningful business insights, enterprise organizations demand better tools to enable them to achieve their commercial goals. Cognitive computing can help to tackle this huge challenge, by augmenting human analysis. More than 40 percent of data science tasks will be automated by 2020, resulting in increased productivity and broader usage of data and analytics by citizen data scientists, according to the latest worldwide market study by Gartner. What's a 'citizen data scientist' role in this equation? It's a person who generates models that use advanced diagnostic analytics, or predictive and prescriptive capabilities, but whose primary job function is outside the field of statistics and complex analytics. Data Scientist Tools Market Development Citizen data scientists can bridge the gap between mainstream self-service analytics, by business users and the advanced analytics techniques of data scientists. Th...

The progress in technologies such as artificial intelligence, internet of things, cloud computing, robotics and intelligent mobility have set the stage for cognitive or sentient tools to emerge onto the global market. These tools are aware of and can learn from their surroundings and users, and mark the next step in the evolution of computational systems, according to the latest worldwide market study by Frost & Sullivan. As smart machines that can communicate and interact with their environment, instead of simply being performers of rote tasks, sentient tools can bring about a sea change in labor-intensive industries. Smart Machines Market Development The sectors that will be most affected by this disruptive technology include travel, transport, defense, manufacturing, medical, construction, agriculture, customer service, finance, communication, and smart cities. "Stakeholders looking to integrate automated technology into their value chain are most likely to invest...