Tech & IT heads, tech enthusiasts and general users are constantly looking for the next new and maybe best inventions, renovations and upgrades that come with the start of a new year. Many find that a technology company’s directions may not necessarily be what they expect.
This list contains trends we think (and hope) will be significant to the Nigerian tech scene in 2015, but hey, what do we know? 2014 was a good year for technology but it’s gone, so it’s time to focus on what’s around the corner so we are ready for some well deserved change.
Cloud Computing
Businesses, most especially small ones are constantly thinking of ways to increase capacity and capabilities without investing in new infrastructure, training new staff, or licensing new software; and in Nigeria, 2015 seems as good a time as any to actively adopt the Cloud Computing rage. The cloud computing market is expected to hit $121.1 billion globally by 2015 from its $37.8 billion in 2010. Despite its propensity for security and privacy risks, cloud computing not only reduces business costs, but also makes applications accessible from any location, and with IT giants such as Google and Microsoft currently developing fresh platforms to address present issues, the future of cloud computing seems pretty solid.
Privacy and Security
All the security breaches that plagued 2014 went a long way in dismantling public trust. There isn’t an industry left unaffected by password leaks and hacking, so we expect to see service providers demanding more authentication requirements like confirmation codes via text messages in 2015. Encrypted emails and keys previously reserved for hackers and the intelligence company will most likely become more mainstream. As technology grows, it'll become more important than ever to secure it. That's why about 15% of mobile devices are expected to add some sort of biometric accessibility in 2015. On top of that, new areas of security, like threat intelligence as a service, will help enterprises assess data risks.
Wearable Technology
Apple does seem to have a cult following in Nigeria (with good reason) so we expect that the Apple Watch will most likely be a must-have for those of us who want both a status symbol and a stylish timepiece. They come in a range colors, from stainless steel to 18K rose gold and there’s nothing as fascinating as stylish technology that is handy. Other wearable tech, such as Google Glass, have already made their debut and caused the public to crave more gadgets like it. Samsung is launching a new platform – Samsung Architecture for Multimodal Interactions (SAMI) — to make the most of the wearables craze. Expect to see more offerings from Microsoft, Motorola, and others, including the Polo Tech Shirt which also offers biometric readings with a designer label, although I doubt that will make waves in this part of the world.
The Phablet Revolution
The only thing people seem to love more than 2 great things is taking those 2, and squeezing them into one (Google ‘the cronut’). So even though the phone and tablet hybrid, phablets (yes, we hate the name too) are a relatively new category of device, first picking up volume in 2012, the pressure that the category has placed on the tablet market has already been noticed, as the growth of smaller 7 inch tablets has begun to slow.
Phablet (screen sizes from 5.5 to less than 7 inches) sales are expected to continue leading tablet sales in 2015. Sales of phablet smartphones are expected to increase by as much as 60%. In addition to size, some of the top smartphone vendors will change as well. Samsung's worldwide smartphone shipments are expected to fall below 20% for the first time in four years, as Chinese vendors like Xiaomi and Lenovo continue to grow.
Peer-to-Peer Commerce
Everyone thinks we are jumping the gun with this prediction, but we beg to differ. Peer-to-peer is booming in the world right now, and Nigerians are nothing if not adaptive. When we say peer-to-peer marketplace, think any platform that brings people and/or businesses together online to deal with each other directly without having to deal with an expensive middleman. We already have the likes of OLX (err, sort of), Jumia (partially), and Simer; and we expect many more startups with the peer-to-peer initiative to spring up this 2015. We have our fingers crossed.
Photocredit: HP
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