Digital Lifescapes

The advancement of digital Money Transfer Operators (MTOs) continued during the past year, with more offerings, better marketing and an improved international scale. One important way that savvy MTOs are accelerating their transaction growth is by pursuing new business partnerships. Moreover, the increased use of mobile phones for money transfers is driven by the launch of apps from established MTOs, as well as new offerings from digital MTOs. Mobile subscribers sending international payments are forecast to reach 66 million in 2024 -- that's up from 41.2 million in 2019. Digital Money Transfer Market Development According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research, global international digital money transfer transaction volume will reach 2 billion by 2024 -- that's up from 1.1 billion in 2019. The new research found that both online and mobile channels are achieving strong growth, with fintech disruptors and market incumbents rapidly gaining money transfe...

The Internet of Things (IoT) and machine to machine (M2M) solutions market continues to evolve, showing growth in all world regions and vertical industries. A variety of hardware and software vendors are helping to propel the emerging technology and associated use cases to new heights. As an example, the market for cellular IoT gateways, routers and modems is expanding, according to the latest worldwide market study by Berg Insight. More than 3.4 million cellular IoT gateways were shipped globally during 2018, at a total market value of approximately $921 million. Growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.5 percent, annual shipments are expected to reach 8 million in 2023. IoT Gateway Market Development Cellular IoT gateways are standalone devices intended for connecting machines to a wireless communication network. These include general-purpose cellular gateways, routers and modems that are enclosed in a chassis and have at least one input/output port. Note that ...

Advances in semiconductor technology enable apps at the edge of networks, creating new uses cases. The global edge computing market was valued at $1.47 billion in 2018 and is forecast to reach $28.84 billion by 2025 at a CAGR of 54 percent, according to the latest worldwide market study by Grand View Research . The growing need to process large volumes of data generated from the Internet-of-Things (IoT) applications that are closer to the end-user will drive demand for these solutions. Increasing emphasis on cost reduction and process automation will also motivate more adoptors. Edge Computing Market Development Organizations are already applying edge computing technology to enhance operations and gain real-time insights from their IoT data. Thus, the continued transition toward edge computing is expected to influence the IT strategies of more CIOs and CTOs at forward-thinking companies. Continued adoption of edge computing for data center applications is also expected to prope...

Global demand for enterprise data center server and storage infrastructure tends to fluctuate. According to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC), worldwide converged systems market revenue increased 3.5 percent year-over-year to $3.75 billion during the third quarter of 2019 (3Q19). "The converged systems market continues to grow despite a challenging overall data center infrastructure environment," said Sebastian Lagana, research manager at IDC . Converged Systems Market Development In particular, hyperconverged solutions remain in demand as vendors position the solutions as an ideal framework for hybrid, multi-cloud environments due to their software-defined nature and ease of integration into premises-agnostic environments. The IDC converged systems market view offers three segments: certified reference systems & integrated infrastructure, integrated platforms, and hyperconverged systems. The certified reference systems & int...

The video entertainment market continues to evolve in America. Low-cost, new and improved over-the-top (OTT) video streaming services have made it virtually impossible for the traditional pay-TV providers to justify their high-cost offerings. Meanwhile, the legacy pay-TV service providers can't halt the continued loss of subscribers, as consumers seek and find alternative sources of news, weather and video entertainment online. U.S. multi-channel defections ballooned in the third quarter, amplified by tighter promotions at a time when consumers need little additional motivation to seek OTT alternatives, according to the latest market study by Kagan, a TMT research group within S&P Global Market Intelligence . Pay-TV Market Development Kagan estimates traditional multi-channel subscribers fell by nearly 1.9 million in the three months ended September 30 -- that's a 25 percent spike from the previous largest drop in the second quarter of 2019. The combined tradition...

Has the public cloud computing services market matured to the point of saturation? The most current market research data seems to indicate that growth may be slowing across the globe. Regardless, demand is not focused on technology, instead, it's all about the anticipated business outcomes. While line of business (LoB) leaders typically drive demand for cloud service adoption, it's the enterprise CTO and CIO that must manage the cloud computing and storage procurement process. Meanwhile, numerous vendors and service providers are now competing for new cloud customers. Public Cloud Market Development The worldwide public cloud services market is forecast to grow 17 percent in 2020 to total $266.4 billion -- that's up from $227.8 billion in 2019, according to the latest market study by Gartner. "At this point, cloud adoption is mainstream," said Sid Nag, research vice president at Gartner . "The expectations of the outcomes associated with cloud investm...

New research has focused on the economic value of fifth-generation (5G) wireless communication technology, the Internet of Things (IoT), and how they enable the development of new vertical industry applications. 5G will dramatically gain importance in providing wireless connectivity to industrial environments, especially in the context of Industry 4.0 and the automation of production processes and monitoring of machine conditions. 5G Infrastructure Market Development According to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research, by 2026 there will be 5.3 million 5G connections on the factory floor which will generate revenue of more than $184 million -- that's a CAGR of 623 percent between 2021 and 2026. "As a technology, 5G will be a perfect fit to provide wireless connectivity on the factory floor, since it enables, for example, establishing a massive wireless sensor network or implementing Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) applications for predictive ...

While blockchain applications are still evolving across the globe, several use cases across asset tracking, financial services and digital identity are already in production and offer valuable improvements. Joining the list of compelling blockchain use cases: the food industry. More than 30 percent of the food produced worldwide is lost or wasted before it is consumed. With the global population expected to grow to 9.8 billion by 2050, improving the food supply chain efficiency will greatly reduce food scarcity and advance the attainment of sustainability goals. Introducing blockchain to the food industry can deliver many benefits. All are linked to the visibility it gives manufacturers, retailers and producers able to view their upstream and downstream activities, location and status of products, with certifications and insights for the entire value chain. Blockchain Market Development According to the latest market study by Juniper Research, blockchain will enable $31 billion...

Now that data breaches are more common, Digital Trust is a top priority for C-level leaders that build and maintain the IT infrastructure for digital transformation. Besides, for most organizations, losing digital trust can have a significant impact on brand reputation and the bottom line. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) have been adopted for their automation benefits, from predictive outcomes to advanced data analytics. AI-based cybersecurity can augment the capabilities of IT staff and help organizations deflect cyber threats, according to the latest market study by Frost & Sullivan. AI and ML Market Development Particularly, AI and ML have been used widely in cybersecurity industries, by both hacking and security communities, making the security landscape even more sophisticated. Many organizations, regardless of size, are now facing greater challenges in day-to-day IT security operations. Many of them indicate that the cost of threat management, p...

Traditional telecom service providers and mobile network operators have many challenges that impact their ability to generate new growth. That said, the situation is more problematic for those companies that had also invested in legacy pay-TV business models. Looking ahead, the next few years are likely to be confounding. Worldwide spending on telecom services and pay-TV services will reach $1,633 billion in 2019, and that's an increase of 0.8 percent year-on-year, according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). Furthermore, IDC forecasts that those same services will reach $1,647 billion in 2020, representing an increase of just 0.9 percent. Given that assessment, the senior executives that lead these companies will seek ways to change the status quo and transform their business model. Telecommunications Market Development Mobile communications remain the largest segment of the market, accounting for 52.8 percent of the total in 2019. The mobi...

The Global Networked Economy is fueled by the growing adoption and application of digital commerce innovations. In many instances, digital commerce enables wholesale supplier or retailer customers to purchase goods and services through an interactive and self-service experience. It includes the people, processes and technologies to execute the offering of development content, analytics, promotion, pricing, customer acquisition and retention, and customer experience at all touchpoints throughout the customer buying journey. That's one view of the evolving eCommerce landscape. Digital Commerce Market Development Industry analysts also segment the overall digital commerce market into payments, banking and gambling as its principal segments, which are then further broken down into their respective sub-segments. It's important to appreciate that these segments are not mutually exclusive and necessarily intersect with one other to varying extents. Boundaries between the segme...

Telecom service providers across the globe have invested significantly in updating their network infrastructure to take advantage of the operational efficiencies enabled by each new generation of wireless communications technology. The next wave of investment has already begun. According to the latest global market study by ABI Research, fifth-generation (5G) wireless is expected to have 12 million connections worldwide by the end of 2019. The number of 5G connections will then grow rapidly to 205 million worldwide at the end of 2020. 5G Infrastructure Market Development The new generation is expected to grow much faster than anticipated, and it's believed that 5G connections will overtake 4G connections in 2025. ABI Research expects approximately 3 billion 5G connections in 2025 with 4G declining from its current 3.9 billion to 2.2 billion in the same year. "Despite the challenges faced by early adopters and the relatively high prices of 5G-capable smartphones in 2019...

Information Technology (IT) infrastructure investment can fluctuate based upon the annual shifts and changes in demand. Worldwide IT spending is forecast to total $3.7 trillion in 2019 -- that's an increase of just 0.4 percent over 2018, according to the latest worldwide market study by Gartner. That said, this has been the lowest IT growth forecast in 2019. However, Gartner believes that global IT spending will likely rebound in 2020 with forecast growth of 3.7 percent, primarily due to enterprise software spending. Information Technology Market Development "The slowdown in IT spending in 2019 is not expected to stretch as far into 2020 despite concerns over a recession and companies cutting back on discretionary IT spending," said John-David Lovelock, research vice president at Gartner . Today’s complex geopolitical environment has pushed regulatory compliance to the top of organizations’ priority list. Overall spending on security increased by 10.5 percent in 2...

Digital transformation is a strategic priority for many organizations. It involves managing the legacy IT environment while building a new infrastructure to enable digital growth. Savvy CIOs and CTOs will adopt intelligent platforms that enhance their internal business processes and improve external stakeholder engagement. That's why enterprise investment in the technologies and services that enable digital transformation is forecast to reach $2.3 trillion in 2023, according to the latest worldwide market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). Digital Transformation (DX) spending is expected to steadily expand throughout the 2019-2023 forecast period, achieving a five-year compound annual growth rate of 17.1 percent. Digital Transformation Market Development "We are approaching an important milestone in DX investment with our forecast showing the DX share of total worldwide technology investment hitting 53 percent in 2023," said Craig Simpson, research man...

The initial commercial interest in cryptocurrency IT infrastructure was the potential to enable an alternative to government-backed fiat currencies. However, now most of the forward-looking focus is on blockchain, the distributed ledger technology that underpins the new applications. Although deployments are still very much in the realm of the early adopter, blockchain has proven advantages across several vertical industries: it is safe, decentralized, transparent and can reduce intermediary costs. Blockchain Use Case Market Development While many CIOs and CTOs believe that blockchain likely has a way to go before becoming a mainstream technology within their sector, five compelling use cases across asset tracking, financial services and digital identity are already in production. They offer valuable business process improvements to the pioneering organization that has already deployed a blockchain -- whether in terms of increased efficiency, reduced fees and fraud, or full tra...

How can IT vendors and cloud service providers differentiate their artificial intelligence (AI) offering, when the solutions tend to have the same basic capabilities? The answer could be new semiconductor chipsets that disrupt the status quo. During the last two years, several hyperscale cloud service providers -- including Alibaba, Amazon, Facebook, Google, Huawei, and Tencent -- have been busy designing their own in-house chipsets for handling AI workloads in their data centers. According to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research, cloud service providers commanded a 3.3 percent market share of the total AI Cloud chip shipments in the first half of 2019. AI Chipset Market Development These players will increasingly rely on their own in-house AI chips and will be producing a total of 300,000 cloud computing AI chips by 2024, representing 18 percent of the global cloud AI chipsets shipped in 2024. The requirements for intelligent services by many enterprise vertical...

Outdoor surveillance cameras will be the largest market for 5G wireless Internet of Things (IoT) solutions worldwide over the next three years, according to the latest global market study by Gartner. The municipal deployed surveillance camera market will represent 70 percent of the 5G IoT endpoint installed base in 2020, before contracting to 32 percent by the end of 2023. 5G IoT installed endpoints for outdoor surveillance cameras will reach 2.5 million in 2020, 6.2 million units in 2021 and 11.2 million units in 2022, but will be surpassed by connected cars in 2023. 5G IoT Applications Market Development "Cameras deployed by city operators or used to ensure building security and provide intruder detection offer the largest addressable market as they are located outdoors, often across cities, and require cellular connectivity," said Stephanie Baghdassarian, senior research director at Gartner . Gartner predicts that the 5G IoT endpoint installed base will more than...

By the end of 2019, eCommerce will have a significant role to play in economic growth, with 44 percent of the global population forecast to purchase physical goods and 27 percent purchasing digital goods. Moving deeper in the digital era, retailers are now focused on customer retention and reduced costs through the application of new technologies -- such as artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, internet of things (IoT) and machine-to-machine communications (M2M), among others. The growth of eRetail transactions has been so significant over the last decade that online payments for physical goods purchases exceeded the $2 trillion mark for the first time in 2017. Two years later, the market size has grown to $2.9 trillion spent online for the purchase of physical goods worldwide in 2019; reaching a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.8 percent. Payment Platforms Market Development According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research, revenue from payment p...

Demand for computer servers, disk storage systems, and networking hardware deployed within an enterprise hybrid cloud environment remains strong. Moreover, the investment in non-cloud on-premises infrastructure seems assured by the CIO and CTO need to deliver superior security and compliance with IT regulatory requirements in several key industries. According to the latest worldwide market study by International Data Corporation ( IDC ), vendor revenue from sales of IT infrastructure products for cloud environments -- including public and private cloud -- declined 10.2 percent year-over-year in the second quarter of 2019 (2Q19), reaching $14.1 billion. Cloud IT Infrastructure Market Development IDC also lowered its forecast for total spending on cloud IT infrastructure in 2019 to $63.6 billion, down 4.9 percent from last quarter's forecast and changing from expected growth to a year-over-year decline of 2.1 percent. Vendor revenue from hardware infrastructure sales to publi...

As more digital technology innovations reside in software apps, and part of those software functions reside in a public cloud, the value of device-centric innovation has been eclipsed. Chances are, the device that you already have in your possession is 'good enough' to access those software-defined services. Worldwide shipments of devices -- personal computers (PCs), media tablets and mobile phones -- will decline by 3.7 percent in 2019, according to the latest worldwide market study by Gartner. Personal Device Market Development Gartner estimates there are more than 5 billion mobile phones used around the world. After years of growth, the worldwide smartphone market has reached a tipping point. Sales of smartphones will decline by 3.2 percent in 2019, which would be the worst decline the category has seen. "This is due to consumers holding onto their phones longer, given the limited attraction of new technology," said Ranjit Atwal, senior research director at...