What Will Be The Biggest Tech Trends In 2014?
Dec 04, 2013 23:02
To think that just a few decades ago, the concept of touch screens, cloud computing and 3D printing seemed like a distant dream.
According to market research firm International Data Corp. (IDC), these following technology trends will not only be big in 2014, they will also generate billions of dollars.
People and companies will spend $2.1 trillion on technology
More companies will invest in new hardware that works better with mobile devices, which includes new servers, storage, networks, software, and services.
PCs will not do well
It's not looking good for PCs. Worldwide revenues are predicted to decline by 6% in 2014.
Countries outside the U.S. and Europe will buy tech like crazy
The four hottest emerging markets right now are Brazil, Russia, India And China (often called BRIC). IDC predicts their spending will increase by 13%, with China leading the way. Other emerging countries in Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa will collectively start spending big on tech.
Business will pour money into the cloud
IDC predicts that the cloud will drive $100 billion worth of spending in 2014, up 25% over 2013. That includes the hardware cloud service providers will need buy to keep up with customer demand. This means that cloud computing is going to get increasingly specialized, with more cloud services for specific industries.
Amazon and Google will start a war for the cloud
IT companies that did well in the pre-cloud era (like Cisco, EMC, HP, IBM, Microsoft, VMware) will have to step up their game in order to keep up with Amazon and Google.
Mobile devices will continue to dominate
The rise of mobile devices is definitely not going stop in 2014. By the end of 2013, an estimated $423.1 billion will be generated by smartphones and tablets that cost less than $350. Worldwide tablet sales will grow by 18% and smartphones will grow by 12% next year.
Microsoft needs to step up its game
2014 will be a make-it-or-break it year for Microsoft in mobile. While sales will continue to be dominated by Apple and Samsung, Android developers will start making more money catching up. But it won't be enough to surpass the money that iOS developers make. IDC says Microsoft needs to "quickly double mobile developer interest in Windows."
Big data gets bigger
Big data is where companies tap into huge volumes of data stored in their own data centers and elsewhere on the Internet. They use computers to instantly sift through that data to predict business conditions and serve customers. Spending on these big data technologies and services will grow by a hefty 30% in 2014, surpassing $14 billion.
But companies will have a hard time hiring people to fill big data jobs, which means we'll be seeing most of the interesting new big data apps as cloud services. Enterprises will want to buy big data as a service instead of building it themselves.
Social networking software gets absorbed
Enterprise social networking will become a feature in most enterprise software. This means companies may be less interested in buying "Facebook for the enterprise" chat apps since they'll get that as part of other apps they buy. IDC believed that virtually all enterprise software will have some sort of social feature built in by mid-2015.
The rise of crowdsourced innovations
Instead of building a new product or service by itself, companies will increasingly use social tech to crowdsource development from many sources like customers, partners, startups. Each industry will have its own "innovation platform". A good example of this is GE's Predix, a cloud service that helps big industrial companies build products. Industries will also turn to cloud players like Amazon, Microsoft, IBM, Salesforce, and others to host their industry-specific clouds.
The Internet of Things becomes an actual thing
This new version of the Internet allows billions of new devices to join the Internet creating what's called the Internet of Things (IoT). IDC didn't predict how much revenue it will generate, but they expect 30 billion inanimate objects will be made "smart," and added to the Internet to be controlled by apps by 2020. This will generate an astounding $8.9 trillion in revenues, IDC says.
According to market research firm International Data Corp. (IDC), these following technology trends will not only be big in 2014, they will also generate billions of dollars.
People and companies will spend $2.1 trillion on technology
More companies will invest in new hardware that works better with mobile devices, which includes new servers, storage, networks, software, and services.
PCs will not do well
It's not looking good for PCs. Worldwide revenues are predicted to decline by 6% in 2014.
Countries outside the U.S. and Europe will buy tech like crazy
The four hottest emerging markets right now are Brazil, Russia, India And China (often called BRIC). IDC predicts their spending will increase by 13%, with China leading the way. Other emerging countries in Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa will collectively start spending big on tech.
Business will pour money into the cloud
IDC predicts that the cloud will drive $100 billion worth of spending in 2014, up 25% over 2013. That includes the hardware cloud service providers will need buy to keep up with customer demand. This means that cloud computing is going to get increasingly specialized, with more cloud services for specific industries.
Amazon and Google will start a war for the cloud
IT companies that did well in the pre-cloud era (like Cisco, EMC, HP, IBM, Microsoft, VMware) will have to step up their game in order to keep up with Amazon and Google.
Mobile devices will continue to dominate
The rise of mobile devices is definitely not going stop in 2014. By the end of 2013, an estimated $423.1 billion will be generated by smartphones and tablets that cost less than $350. Worldwide tablet sales will grow by 18% and smartphones will grow by 12% next year.
Microsoft needs to step up its game
2014 will be a make-it-or-break it year for Microsoft in mobile. While sales will continue to be dominated by Apple and Samsung, Android developers will start making more money catching up. But it won't be enough to surpass the money that iOS developers make. IDC says Microsoft needs to "quickly double mobile developer interest in Windows."
Big data gets bigger
Big data is where companies tap into huge volumes of data stored in their own data centers and elsewhere on the Internet. They use computers to instantly sift through that data to predict business conditions and serve customers. Spending on these big data technologies and services will grow by a hefty 30% in 2014, surpassing $14 billion.
But companies will have a hard time hiring people to fill big data jobs, which means we'll be seeing most of the interesting new big data apps as cloud services. Enterprises will want to buy big data as a service instead of building it themselves.
Social networking software gets absorbed
Enterprise social networking will become a feature in most enterprise software. This means companies may be less interested in buying "Facebook for the enterprise" chat apps since they'll get that as part of other apps they buy. IDC believed that virtually all enterprise software will have some sort of social feature built in by mid-2015.
The rise of crowdsourced innovations
Instead of building a new product or service by itself, companies will increasingly use social tech to crowdsource development from many sources like customers, partners, startups. Each industry will have its own "innovation platform". A good example of this is GE's Predix, a cloud service that helps big industrial companies build products. Industries will also turn to cloud players like Amazon, Microsoft, IBM, Salesforce, and others to host their industry-specific clouds.
The Internet of Things becomes an actual thing
This new version of the Internet allows billions of new devices to join the Internet creating what's called the Internet of Things (IoT). IDC didn't predict how much revenue it will generate, but they expect 30 billion inanimate objects will be made "smart," and added to the Internet to be controlled by apps by 2020. This will generate an astounding $8.9 trillion in revenues, IDC says.
