According to Deloitte Global report’s latest predictions the technology, media and telecommunications industry will see more inclusive and green improvements. “Market players must take these accelerated trends and shifts into account to stay ahead and keep current,” the document warns.
Deloitte Luxembourg has issued its 2022 predictions on Global Technology, Media & Telecommunications (TMT).
The report forecasts trends that may disrupt and transform business and consumer ecosystems worldwide, amid the economic and societal shifts of the global pandemic.
According to the 142-page document, technological progress and increased digital connectivity have been fuelled by the pandemic: “Over the past 2 years, the COVID-19 crisis has been a global and local catalyst for technology adoption,” explains David Osville, TMT Industry Leader at Deloitte Luxembourg.
“This trend continues to accelerate across a myriad of areas. From day-to-day devices to smart homes and vehicles, products are increasingly digitally connected.”
More specifically, Deloitte’s report sees a strong development and demand in healthcare wearable technology: Sensors and artificial intelligence are seeing rapid growth and are helping millions of people in better managing chronic health conditions and mitigating serious illnesses.
Hence the document predicts that “320 million consumer health and wellness wearable devices will ship worldwide in 2022. By 2024, that figure could reach 440 million units.”
“Many of these predictions include positive changes for a more inclusive, interconnected and sustainable world.”
David Osville
Furthermore, regulation on artificial intelligence is heating up: Deloitte forecasts that 2022 will see more systematic and spirited discussion around regulating AI.
“While several proposals are already tabled, including one from the European Commission, actual enforced regulations are not likely until 2023 at the earliest,” the report expects.
However, “some jurisdictions even intend to ban entire subfields of AI, such as facial recognition in public spaces, social scoring and subliminal techniques”.
Women in the tech industry are gaining ground: According to Deloitte, large global technology firms, on average, are predicted to reach nearly 33% overall female representation in their workforces in 2022, up slightly more than 2 percentage points from 2019.
“Lessons of the pandemic—like the remote-work-first model—could dramatically expand the diverse talent pool, leading to better business outcomes,” the report predicts.
Venture capital investment in chip companies reaches new highs: Deloitte anticipates that VCs might globally invest more than US$ 6 billion in semiconductor startup companies in 2022.
“While representing only 2% of the US$ 300 billion-plus of overall VC investment expected in 2022, this is still more than three times larger than every year between 2000 and 2016,” the report says.
Streaming wars go global: Leading streaming providers expand globally and national media companies spin up their own domestic streaming services.
“This creates abundant consumer choice and accelerates churn as a result,” Deloitte notices. “At least 150 million paid subscriptions to streaming video-on-demand services (SVOD) will be cancelled worldwide in 2022, with churn rates of up to 30% per market.”
Smartphones might also turn green and sustainable: Future devices will see a reduction in their carbon footprint, an extension of their expected lifetimes, and have a higher resilience to falls and water exposure, the report sees.
However, “the 4.5 billion smartphones in circulation worldwide will generate 146 million tonnes of CO2 or equivalent emissions (CO2e) in 2022,” Deloitte details. “While less than half a percent of the 34 gigatons of total CO2e emitted globally in 2021, this could still be curtailed. The bulk of these emissions (83%) will be from the manufacturing, shipping and first-year usage of smartphones”.
The report shows that “many of these predictions include positive changes for a more inclusive, interconnected and sustainable world,” concludes Osville. “Therefore, TMT market players must take these accelerated trends and shifts into account to stay ahead and keep current”.
