Digital Lifescapes

The APAC region is undergoing a shift in business technology investment, with artificial intelligence (AI) emerging as the cornerstone of its digital transformation journey. IDC's latest forecast reveals that AI spending in the region will surge to $175 billion by 2028, driven by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 59.2 percent for Generative AI (GenAI). This significant growth underscores the potential across industries, from healthcare to financial services, as organizations race to harness intelligent automation, predictive analytics, and next-generation customer experiences. Artificial Intelligence Market Development Generative AI leads the charge, with its ability to automate complex tasks and generate novel outputs, reshaping operational paradigms. The technology's rapid enterprise adoption is evidenced by a projected tripling of GenAI investments between 2025 and 2028. Healthcare and education sectors are also accelerating deployments, using AI for personalized medi...

The personal computing device market continues to demonstrate remarkable resilience despite recent fluctuations. According to the latest worldwide market study by International Data Corporation (IDC), global PC shipments are projected to reach 273 million units in 2025—a modest but significant 3.7 percent increase over the previous year. This growth reflects the market's adaptation to post-pandemic realities and evolving technology needs across the globe. Personal Computing Market Development While COVID-19 initially triggered unprecedented demand for computing devices during the shift to remote work and online education, we now see a more measured growth pattern. IDC has slightly adjusted its projections downward, indicating a market growing steadily rather than explosively. "In light of so many challenges around the world, Japan is a much-needed source of double-digit growth this year. Enterprises there as well as SMBs have been quickly replacing PCs in advance of the Window...

The way we work is undergoing huge changes. Technological advancements like automation, artificial intelligence (AI), and cloud computing are fundamentally altering the landscape of office worker employment. Business leaders are grappling with a new reality: the talent skills gap between their current knowledge workers and the growing demands of digital transformation raising the bar of expectations. A recent  International Data Corporation (IDC) survey of North American IT leaders uncovered the latest employee learning and development insights. Nearly two-thirds of respondents reported that a lack of critical skills has resulted in missed revenue growth objectives, quality problems, and a decline in customer satisfaction. These issues represent a significant drag on a company's top and bottom lines. Future of Work Apps Market Development "Getting the right people with the right skills into the right roles has never been so difficult," said Gina Smith, PhD, research direc...

The global financial services sector continues to grow as more progressive organizations seek to gain a meaningful competitive advantage from their digital transformation initiatives. Across the globe, many regions are seeing a significant rise in 'instant issuance' activity from a physical and digital perspective, from both traditional and emerging innovative banking institutions. Digital Payments Market Development Customers increasingly demand instant access to banking services, with physical instant issuance enabling them to leave their branch equipped with a ready-to-go payment card. According to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research, the market for instantly issued physical payment cards will increase from 243.2 million shipments in 2022 to a forecast of 471.1 million in 2027. "Critically, instant issuance of payment cards is no longer limited to the physical," said Sam Gazeley, industry analyst at ABI Research . Indeed, the growing digitization of p...

Virtual Reality (VR) market growth is now finally coming to fruition. Thanks to current actions and market momentum, VR is approaching what can be considered critical mass. And, not a moment too soon. This growth momentum comes from new hardware and content releases, accelerating enterprise value recognition, and a significant metaverse wild card that could potentially lift adoption and usage. According to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research, over 85 million VR Head Mounted Displays (HMDs) will be shipped in 2027 across consumer and enterprise segments, creating a $100 billion VR market that includes hardware, software, and services. Virtual Reality Market Development "Expectations have been high in VR for years, and even decades, without notable growth to show. That growth is finally coming over the next five years," said Eric Abbruzzese, research director at ABI Research . The barrier to entry is lower than ever, all while content performance and user experien...

Across the globe, more organizations are investing in the modernization of information technology (IT) infrastructure and associated service offerings. For many senior executives, the motivation is obvious and compelling. While most of the IT spending within the commercial enterprise sector is targeted at fueling their digital business growth agenda, the public sector also has its own compelling goals and objectives. Worldwide government IT spending is now forecast to total $557.3 billion in 2022 -- that's an increase of 6.5 percent from 2021, according to the latest global market study by Gartner. Government IT Market Development "Governments will continue to accelerate investments in digital technologies to respond and recover from the continuing evolution of public health uncertainties due to the COVID-19 pandemic," said Irma Fabular, vice president at Gartner . According to the Gartner assessment, the disruptions caused by the pandemic have also reinforced a key digit...

The Work from Home (WFH) phenomena has fueled the need for more devices, better internet access, and secure networking technologies. Plus, the COVID-19 pandemic is now driving demand for Wi-Fi customer premise equipment (CPE) as millions of people work and learn from their homes. According to the latest global market study by ABI Research, the closely related worldwide Wi-Fi CPE market will see vendors ship more than 223 million units in 2020 -- that's a surge of 10 million units from 2019 reported growth. "Stay-at-home orders imposed in the first quarter of 2020 forced millions of consumers to work from home and students to do home-based learning, creating the need for ultra-reliable broadband and Wi-Fi connectivity in households worldwide," said Khin Sandi Lynn, an analyst at ABI Research . Wi-Fi CPE Market Development There has been a sudden spike in the adoption of Wi-Fi routers and wireless network extenders as consumers seek a reliable Wi-Fi connection that can simu...

Many senior executives are resolute in their commitment to increasing business technology investments. The C-suite continues to support the strategic projects that CIOs and CTOs are championing within their organization. Cloud and edge computing are still gaining momentum. Spending on the digital transformation (DX) of business practices, products, and organizations will continue at a solid pace despite the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the latest worldwide market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). Global spending on DX technologies and services is forecast to grow by 10.4 percent in 2020 to $1.3 trillion. While this is slower growth than the 17.9 percent in 2019, it remains one of the few bright spots in a year characterized by dramatic reductions in overall IT spending. Digital Transformation Market Development "COVID-19 has upended the global economy, with direct negative implications on the way businesses invest in IT," sa...

According to the latest worldwide market study by IDC, spending on augmented reality and virtual reality (AR/VR) is forecast to be $3.7 billion in 2019 -- that's an increase of 34 percent from the previous year. Asia-Pacific spending on AR/VR products and services will continue this strong growth throughout the forecast period (2018-23), with a five-year compound annual growth rate of 62 percent. This growth is primarily driven by commercial industries which are going to be more than $11 billion larger than the consumer segment by the end of the forecast (2018-23). Despite this, the consumer segment (which is currently at $1.7 billion in 2019) continues to be larger than any other industry segment over the forecasted period. AR and VR Use Case Market Development The high growth in the commercial segment is primarily due to the AR/VR capability to solve complex business problems and streamline operations. The two industries that are seeing the most activities or implementati...

The traditional printer market has been turbulent during the last few years, due to shrinking demand and vendor consolidation. However, the upside for 3D printing is a bright spot. Canalys predicts that the worldwide market for 3D printers, and associated materials and services will reach a value of $4.9 billion by the end of 2016. The total market is expected to grow by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 43.5 percent from 2015 to 2020 -- reaching a value of $22.4 billion. Shipments of 3D printers are forecast to grow at a CAGR of 67.2 percent -- to reach 2.4 million units by 2020. Worldwide, vendors shipped 182,000 3D printers in 2015, a 37 percent year-on-year increase, with strong performances in both the enterprise and consumer sectors. That being said, challenges remain as the market evolves. The market continues to have mixed results, from a growth perspective. While industrial expenditure on 3D printers fell, educational establishments ordered thousands of systems ...

Mobile communication networks have been instrumental in enabling basic economic development at the community and individual level within the African continent. At the end of 2Q-2013, the total mobile phone subscriptions in Africa reached 863 million -- that's a growth of 9.3 percent year-on-year (YoY), which is more than other regions around the world. Africa’s growth trajectory will continue up to 2018, with a CAGR of 6.6 percent, to reach 1.25 billion subscriptions. "What’s more, due to the lower comparative 3G penetration of 13.8 percent in Africa at the end of 2013, we forecast that Africa 3G subscriptions will grow rapidly from 114 million in 2013 to 210 million by 2015," said Marina Lu, research associate at ABI Research . While the vast majority of African countries are still in the process of extending and enhancing their 3G networks, some major African markets -- such as South Africa, Ghana, and Nigeria -- have launched 4G networks, notching up 0.2 million ...

It seemed like nothing could temper the industry analyst enthusiasm for media tablet market demand. But faced with growing competition from smartphones with larger displays and the prospect of new mobile device categories diverting consumer spending, International Data Corporation (IDC) has lowered its tablet forecast for 2013 and beyond. IDC now expects worldwide tablet shipments to reach 227.4 million units in 2013 -- that's down from a previous forecast of 229.3 million, but still 57.7 percent above 2012 shipments. Despite the slight reduction for this year, the market will continue to grow at a rapid pace and by 2017 IDC expects worldwide shipments to be nearly 407 million units. The company also adjusted its regional outlook, with maturing markets such as the U.S. now expected to cede share more rapidly to emerging markets such as Asia-Pacific. "A lower than anticipated second quarter, hampered by a lack of major product announcements, means the second half of the y...

How do you prosper in a highly competitive world where talent, creativity and imaginative ideas are the most important commercial currencies? Can spawning new digital technology start-ups act as a lasting stimulus in an otherwise ailing economy within a developed nation? These are questions that are top-of-mind for me. It’s an intriguing topic for others as well. It seems that supporting high-tech entrepreneurs is now viewed by many political leaders, from all parts of the globe, as a potent public policy remedy that may help them solve their local economic development challenges – particularly a lingering high unemployment rate. As I walked through the exhibits on the South by Southwest ( SXSW ) trade show floor, I wondered what all these national and regional public sector agencies hoped to achieve with their presence at this year’s Interactive festival in Austin, Texas. From my own trend-spotting perspective, what was the big attraction this year? Once again, the “SXSW Start...

According to preliminary data from International Data Corporation (IDC), a better than anticipated second quarter for the media tablet market will offer one of the few upside opportunities for traditional PC manufacturers in an otherwise uninspiring global marketplace. Total worldwide media tablet shipments for the second quarter of 2012 (2Q12) are estimated at 25 million units -- that's up from 18.7 in the first quarter of 2012. That growth represents a quarter-over-quarter increase of 33.6 percent and a robust year-over-year growth rate of 66.2 percent, up from 15 million units in the second quarter of 2011. "Apple built upon its strong March iPad launch and ended the quarter with its best-ever shipment total for the iPad, outrunning even the impressive shipment record it set in the fourth quarter of last year," said Tom Mainelli, research director at IDC . According to IDC's assessment, the vast majority of consumers continue to favor the iPad over compe...

I wasn’t able to attend the full Digital Shoreditch Festival, just a few days from the second week of scheduled events. That being said, I’m really glad that I witnessed part of the second annual festival of creative, cultural and technological developments within this evolving East London community. I had mentioned – before my visit – I believe that London, England has some things in common with the emerging tech and digital creative clusters in Austin, Texas. But based upon what I saw and heard during the insightful Digital Shoreditch activities, I’m now thinking that there are more similarities with the New York City clusters. London has a wealth of creative talent focused on the fashion, architecture and design sectors of the global networked economy. Few places in the world can likely match this amazing combination of artistic assets and intellectual capacity. Besides, the local higher-education and professional mentoring opportunities are clearly more attuned to the app...

Results from the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC) showed a strong fourth quarter of 2011 (4Q11), with videoconferencing revenue growing 19.0 percent quarter over quarter and 24.6 percent year over year to reach $807.9 million. Specifically, the single-codec telepresence segment of the market grew 38.7 percent year over year to $444.1 million and now accounts for 55.0 percent of the total market. For the full year 2011, total enterprise videoconferencing market revenue reached $2.7 billion -- that's an increase of 20.5 percent over the full year 2010. This compares favorably versus the 16.6 percent growth we saw in 2010 over 2009, further pointing to an accelerated adoption of video in the enterprise. "Growth has been spurred on by more well-defined video use cases among organizations across a range of vertical market segments, including healthcare, higher education, financial services, legal, law enforcement, manufacturing, and retail,...