Digital Lifescapes

While the 2025 economic outlook is uncertain, one thing is clear. The global technology sector continues to produce remarkable resilience and growth, defying earlier concerns about headwinds.  Forrester's latest worldwide market forecast reveals an acceleration in technology spending, projecting it to reach $4.9 trillion this year – a 5.6 percent increase from 2024's $4.7 trillion. This investment surge signals a fundamental shift in how business leaders across the globe are approaching their digital transformation journeys. Global IT Market Development    The magnitude of this spending becomes even more striking when we examine its composition. Software and IT services are poised to command two-thirds of global technology investments in 2025, highlighting the central role of digital capabilities in modern business operations. The software sector, in particular, stands out with its projected 10.5 percent growth rate, positioning it to capture an impressive 60 percent of g...

The rapid evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) and hyperscale cloud computing is fundamentally reshaping data center infrastructure, and liquid cooling is emerging as an indispensable solution. As traditional air-cooled systems reach their physical limits, the IT industry is under pressure to adopt more efficient thermal management strategies to meet growing demands, while complying with stringent environmental regulations. Liquid Cooling Market Development The latest ABI Research analysis reveals momentum in liquid cooling adoption. Installations are forecast to quadruple between 2023 and 2030. The market will reach $3.7 billion in value by the decade's end, with a CAGR of 22 percent. The urgency behind these numbers becomes clear when examining energy metrics: liquid cooling systems demonstrate 40 percent greater energy efficiency when compared to conventional air-cooling architectures, while simultaneously enabling ~300-500 percent increases in computational density per rac...

Across the globe, digital business transformation has a new catalyst for substantive advancements. Generative AI (GenAI) is about to transform many industries around the world. According to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC), spending on GenAI in the Asia-Pacific region will reach a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 95.4 percent between 2022 and 2027. "China is projected to maintain its position as the dominant market for GenAI, while Japan and India are set to become the most rapidly expanding markets in the forthcoming years," said Deepika Giri, head of research, IDC APJ . Asia-Pacific  Generative AI Market Development The IDC market study clearly shows the burgeoning Generative AI landscape in the Asia-Pacific region. Here are some of the most significant insights. Surging GenAI Spending: The study predicts a growth trajectory for GenAI spending in the region. By 2027, expenditures are expected to reach $26 billion, reflecting the widespre...

Leading the way forward, fintech vendors have offered a variety of digital payment solutions across regional financial service markets. Plus, due in part to the disruptive COVID-19 global pandemic, and the move away from cash-dependent payment methods, digital wallets are now gaining broad adoption. According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research, the number of unique digital wallet users will exceed 4.4 billion globally in 2025 -- rising from an estimated 2.6 billion in 2020. Juniper analysts found that mobile phone wallets are driving this impressive 70 percent growth, as fintech mobile app payments rapidly scale across geographical and vertical industry markets. Digital Payment Market Development Furthermore, the increasing alignment between in-person and remote commerce channels is leading to greater use of smartphone app wallets, with web app wallet use confined to high-value purchases or complex bill payments. Juniper Research recommends that retailers and othe...

All consumer electronics devices eventually reach market saturation, where most of the people that crave the product already have it. After declining by 0.3 percent in 2017, the worldwide smartphone market will shrink again this year. Smartphone shipments are forecast to drop by 0.2 percent in 2018 to 1.462 billion units, which is down from 1.465 billion in 2017 and 1.469 billion in 2016. However, IDC expects the market to grow by 3 percent annually from 2019 onwards. Worldwide shipments should reach 1.654 billion in 2022 -- that's a five year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.5 percent. Smartphone Market Development The biggest driver of the 2017 shipment downturn was the saturated market in China, which saw its smartphone market decline 4.9 percent year-over-year. Tough times are expected to continue in 2018, as IDC forecasts consumption in China to decline another 7.1 percent before flattening out in 2019. The biggest upside potential in Asia-Pacific continues to b...

Digital health revolves around the integration of traditional healthcare systems and newer technologies to improve efficiency, value for money and ultimately patient outcomes. Electronic Health Records (EHR) have been a big part of this evolution, promising universal access to key elements of a patient's medical history. As many nations have now adopted EHRs, the debate has moved on to what can be done with this data. Interoperability and analytics have become important requirements of healthcare IT systems. Improving access to healthcare and the convenience of that access has become a key goal. As these new IT systems develop, disruptive technologies are now being utilized as part of the digital health landscape. Leading the charge for this disruption is Artificial Intelligence (AI) and chatbots. Digital Health Market Development According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research , the annual cost savings derived from the adoption of chatbots in healthcare ...

Following a disappointing year in 2016, when the Europay, Mastercard and Visa (EMV) payment cards market nearly came to a complete halt, ABI Research now expects that the market will bounce back this year with an anticipated annual growth rate of 4.6 percent. The EMV market problems began in 2016 with overstocking issues in the U.S., causing shipments to drop by 18 percent. Additionally, the market in China reached saturation and was further impacted by new legislation limiting the number of accounts one citizen is permitted to own at a singular bank. Both issues in China resulted in a card shipment decrease of 8 percent YoY. Global EMV Market Development All eyes are now firmly fixed on the U.S., China, and India, driven by an expectation that over 56 percent of all EMV cards issued globally in 2017 will be issued into one of these three countries. India will be one of the positive growth factors in the near-term future, currently in the early stage of EMV migration which will...

While it's true that cloud computing service adoption has been driven mainly by organizations in developed markets within North America, Western Europe and the Asia-Pacific regions, we're now seeing significant upside opportunities in emerging markets, such as India. The overall public cloud services market in India is already predicted to grow by 35.9 percent in 2016, to reach a total of $1.3 billion, according to the latest market study by Gartner. Public Cloud Market Development The highest growth in this emerging market will come from cloud system infrastructure services  -- such as infrastructure as a service (IaaS) -- which is projected to grow by 45.5 percent in 2016. This cloud service adoption in India is followed by platform as a service (PaaS), and Gartner analysts have projected that segment of the market will grow 33.5 percent by the end of this year. "The overall global public cloud market will mature, and its growth rate will slightly slow down ...

Global cloud computing service providers are well known in China and India, but they're clearly not alone. According to the latest market study by 451 Research, there are nearly 200 vendors in both nations that are providing cloud services -- such as IaaS, PaaS and SaaS. 451 Research analysts believe that China and India will become major cloud computing markets within the Asia-Pacific region, generating revenue of $1.59 billion and $851 million respectively, with a CAGR of 27 percent and 24 percent through 2020. Combined, these two countries will account for about 30 percent of the total Asia-Pacific cloud computing market. Market Development in China and India The majority of revenue comes from compute use cases within the IaaS segment today, but the evolution of big data analytics and the Internet of Things (IoT) applications will likely accelerate the future adoption of cloud storage in both markets. Government-led cloud initiatives are helping to drive growth. Govern...

The mobile communication sector is still in transition. During the first quarter of 2016 (Q1 2016), the global macro-cell mobile infrastructure market totaled $10 billion. That's a decline of 18 percent sequentially, which effected all regions of the globe -- except Japan, North America and Mexico. The mobile infrastructure market is also down 8 percent on a year-over-year basis, signaling it has entered the post 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) peak era. As a result, LTE was down 23 percent quarter-over-quarter and down 6 percent year-over-year, according to the latest worldwide market study by IHS . For the first time since the beginning of 4G LTE rollouts in 2012, all generations of mobile communication technologies experienced a sharp decline. Market Development Challenges Remain Even India, the only BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) nation bright spot last year, slowed down dramatically in Q1 2016 due to spectrum issues and various deals between local m...

Today, the sharing economy represents numerous and varied services and business models, which have branched from a core group of offerings. Ride-sharing services that utilize independent drivers -- such as Uber and Lyft -- are seeing significant returns from their ongoing market development strategies. These shared transport online platforms, who typically take 20 percent of driver earnings, will see their revenues grow from an estimated $3.3 billion in 2015 to reach $6.5 billion by 2020, according to the latest global market study by Juniper Research. Their worldwide study found that a combination of promotional incentives, flexible working hours, and new business models will potentially attract more new freelance drivers to these companies. Service Expansion to Drive Future Growth While Uber has struggled to gain a significant foothold in China -- apparently due to the dominance of Taxi hailing service Didi Kuaidi -- Uber is not without the determination and the means to forc...

According to the latest market study by Technology Business Research (TBR), most of the growth for telecom vendors is coming from China during the third quarter of 2015 (3Q15), where network operators are deploying 4G LTE, optical fiber, fixed-access and IP equipment. More growth is also coming from infrastructure deployment in India, where there is selective 4G LTE investment as well as 3G mobile network build-outs and managed services deals. This Capex spend is fueling growth for vendors entrenched firmly in those markets -- particularly Huawei and ZTE in China, and Ericsson in India. "LTE investment in China continued to drive Huawei's peer-leading telecom revenue as well as strong growth for ZTE,” said Michael Soper, telecom analyst at TBR . Outside of China, network operator spending is variable, reflecting the impact of post-peak LTE spend in North America, Japan and South Korea and economic issues in certain emerging markets, such as the Caribbean and Latin Americ...

Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) Beacons have emerged as a major new wireless technology with a multi-billion dollar market development opportunity -- and it's a key part the emerging Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem. BLE Beacons provide a long list of next-generation uses cases in growing markets -- including indoor location proximity, in-store retail, smart home, smart city, industrial, mobile payments, wearables, mobile advertising, and ambient intelligence. BLE beacons are now ready for mainstream adoption in 2016, following a strong 2015 third quarter in shipments and new contract signings, according to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research. Moreover, the current use cases also create significant new demand for big data storage and software analytics applications. "We populated our contract tracker with a handful of company names in the last quarter, including IKEA, H&M, Macy’s, Target, Pizza Hut, Elle, Espirit, McDonalds and Carrefour," said Patri...

According to the latest worldwide market study by International Data Corporation (IDC), 3.2 billion people, or 44 percent of the world's population, will have access to the Internet in 2016. More than 2 billion will be using mobile devices to do so. Growth in Internet access is taking place around the world, but some countries are seeing particularly rapid growth. Furthermore, the world's Internet users are performing a variety of activities online. China, India and Indonesia lead the way -- they will account for almost half of the new user gains in Internet access globally over the course of the next five years. The combination of lower-cost mobile devices and inexpensive wireless networks are making accessibility easier in countries with large low-income populations that could not previously afford to use the Internet. The total number of mobile Internet users is forecast to rise by approximately 2 percent annually through 2020, unless significant new methods of acces...

Micro-credit, insurance, and simple saving accounts are already making a very positive impact on millions of the world's poor, while also creating new opportunities for innovative mobile network service providers in emerging markets. Both micro-finance providers, and mobile carriers, are driving a surge in financial inclusion for the un-banked populace in developing nations, through the provision of sophisticated mobile finance services, according to the latest market study by Juniper Research. Juniper now estimates that micro-finance user numbers in developing regions -- including Africa & India -- will triple from 94 million in 2015 to 283 million by 2020. They found that mobile savings accounts -- such as Safaricom’s M-Shwari and Tigo Tanzania -- had already gained mass adoption in their respective markets, with the mobile network operators benefiting both from reduced churn and from the opportunity to upsell additional content such as micro-insurance and loans. Inde...

The video entertainment industry has experienced many changes during the last decade, but few were as dramatic as the shift in global pay-TV growth prospects. While many developed nations reached market saturation, emerging markets in the Asia-Pacific region assumed the market development leadership position. Pay-TV subscriptions for 338 operators across 89 countries will increase by 200 million from a collective 704 million in 2014 to 904 million by 2020, according to the latest worldwide market study by Digital TV Research . That being said, China Radio & TV is the world's largest pay-TV operator, by a wide margin. Chinese government policy to consolidate cable TV means that China Radio & TV quickly became the world's largest pay-TV operator -- with 198 million subscribers by the end of 2014. They will soon represent every cable TV home in China, with a forecast 252 million subscribers expected by 2020 -- that's an upside increase of nearly 54 million compar...

According the latest global market study by International Data Corporation (IDC), total smartphone shipments are expected to grow by 10.4 percent in 2015 to reach 1.44 billion units. This new forecast is lower than IDC's previous smartphone forecast of 11.3 percent year-over-year growth in 2015. Smartphone shipments within China will now join North America and Western Europe in a more mature growth pattern. However, the ongoing fall of average selling prices (ASPs) will fuel steady growth through the end of the forecast period, with global shipments forecast to reach 1.9 billion units in 2019. As the largest market for smartphones -- China consumed 32.3 percent of all new smartphone shipments in 2014 -- its importance is still significant, even if its growth has begun to slow. Shipments are forecast to grow just 1.2 percent year-over-year in 2015, which is down from 19.7 percent in 2014. China will remain the largest market for smartphone volumes throughout the forecast perio...

Global 4G LTE subscribers are projected to grow 35 percent compounded annually over the next five years, from 516 million to 2.3 billion, according to the latest market study by TeleGeography . LTE market penetration has been the greatest in South Korea, where the 4G technology accounted for 63 percent of wireless subscribers in 2014. Close behind South Korea is the United States market, where LTE overtook 3G as the leading mobile communications technology last year -- to account for just over half of wireless subscribers, and Japan, where LTE had a subscriber market share of 41 percent in 2014. While 4G LTE will continue to grow in each of these leading nations over the next five years to account for between 80 and 90 percent of their respective mobile subscribers, mobile networks in the rest of the world will now begin to catch up. The country to watch is China, where a boom in TD-LTE network deployment and soaring use of mobile internet access and data service usage are occurr...

During the last couple of years, machine-to-machine (M2M) offerings have become a key part of the product portfolio at telecom service providers and a significant new revenue stream for the few specialists. The management of devices is key to M2M offerings, and it distinguishes the capabilities from the broader Internet of Things ( IoT ), where any object may be furnished with wireless connectivity on an ad-hoc basis. Juniper Research has forecast that the telematics sector will continue to outperform all other M2M markets over the next five years, in revenue terms, with one in five passenger vehicles connected globally by 2019. Smartphone-based models have become the key disruptor for M2M, as sectors such as healthcare, consumer electronics and retail continue to evolve. According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research, the M2M sector will generate service revenues of over $40 billion globally by 2019 -- that's essentially doubling the size of today's...

Demand for access to the mobile internet creates opportunities for new wireless technologies. Femtocells are small cellular base stations used to provide wireless connectivity for mobile devices such as smartphones and media tablets. According to the latest market study by Allied Market Research , the global femtocell device market was valued at $220 million in 2012 and is expected to grow at CAGR of 42.9 percent during 2013-2020. A significant increase in the applications of smartphone for and media tablets availing value-added services has fueled the growth of femtocell market. Reductions in cost of electronic devices -- such as mobile phones, laptops -- have increased the demand for femtocells. The growth of femtocell market in developing economies is hampered due to the higher cost. High initial investment required for the setup and the limited usage in home based applications of femtocell does not justify the investment made by consumers in the Asian countries. Flexibili...