Desire for Content is at an All Time High, and Apple is Positioned to Dominate in Immersive Content

Apple’s latest confirmed venture into the immersive technologies space—Augmented and/or Virtual Reality (AR/VR)—is through the acquisition of VR content house NextVR for US$100 million.

The Future is Now for Contactless, Autonomous Delivery

Even post-pandemic, at least some forms of distancing and safety protocols are likely to continue either through regulation, corporate culture, or societal desires.

U.S. FWA Market Primes for Accelerated Growth Due to 5G

FWA solutions based on LTE or LTE-Advance might not be able to reach the speed of wired solutions, such as fiber-optic, but the lower cost to businesses while attainting a satisfactory speed provides an edge for FWA.

EV Industry during the COVID-19 Outbreak: Business [Almost] as Usual

Major announcements show that companies operating in the EV industry are moving forward with their electrification plans despite the pandemic.

FCC Makes 1.2 GHz of 6 GHz Spectrum Available, Enabling Next Decade of Wi-Fi to Flourish

The announcement is a momentous decision and will help to ensure the long-term future and viability of Wi-Fi, as well as enabling new use cases, business opportunities, and valuable services over the next decade and beyond.

The Recently Announced Merger between Telefonica’s O2 and Liberty Global’s Virgin Mobile Will Put Vodafone and Three UK on the Spot

The move will see O2 being transferred into the joint venture on a debt-free basis, while Virgin Mobile will contribute a combined US$13.89 billion (GBP 11.3 billion). Subject to regulatory approval, the transaction will be completed during 2021.

COVID-19 Will Drive Global Contactless Payment Card Issuance Above the 2 Billion Mark in 2020

COVID-19 is expected to have a profound effect on the payment cards market. Contactless is considered the more hygienic and safe way of making proximity payments, and this is being reinforced by ecosystem players who are shifting marketing messages from contactless transactions used to increase convenience levels toward safety and health. Globally, contactless adoption will increase between +6% to +8% when compared to pre-COVID-19 expectations, with the issuance levels forecast to grow by 14% YoY, accounting for more than 65% of all cards issued in 2020, according to ABI Research.

“Although the overarching trend toward contactless was well in place prior, COVID-19 will further increase the speed of contactless adoption, particularly within countries and economies where cash remains king, and usage not only being encouraged by payment ecosystem players and suppliers but also by governments and health organizations including the WHO,” explains Phil Sealy, Research Director.

Secure Hardware Technologies Markets Will Be Hit Hard By COVID-19 in 2020

Two critical secure hardware technologies, Trusted Platform Modules (TPM) and Trusted Execution Environments (TEE), are likely to be heavily affected by COVID-19 and resulting in economic slowdowns. ABI Research projects that 2020 shipments of TPMs are forecasted to decline YoY more than 17% from 2019, whereas pre-COVID-19 forecasts called for growth of nearly 12%. Shipments of TEEs will remain flat in 2020, far below the pre-COVID-19 growth of 22% originally forecasted.  

“The technologies are dependent on the dynamics in their primary markets, many of which have been hit hard by the pandemic,” said Michela Menting, Research Director. “Both manufacturing disruptions and the forthcoming economic recession will mean markets such as Personal Computers (PCs) and related accessories, smartphones, 5G equipment, and automotive, are going to be adversely affected, with lowering global demand. This will have a knock-on effect for those secondary component markets, such as secure hardware.”