Here at Enginess, we're on the lookout for what we think is going to be the next innovation, or what existing fringe products are ready to hit the mainstream.
Here are a few of our ideas.
1. Digital Payments
With everything else online and the e-commerce sector growing faster than it seems possible, it's no wonder that digital payments and wallets are top of mind for a lot of companies and
consumers.
Apple is probably a little ahead of the curve on this one, with Apple Pay already out and being worked into brick-and-mortars, not to mention being integrated with numerous e-commerce sites.
Plus, Apple's set up a range of partnerships with companies like Nordstrom and McDonald's to further streamline Apple Pay's adoption.
Apple’s general attitude to launch a complete product, rather than tests and iterations certainly set it up well for mass digital wallet adoption – people don't like to mess around with their money. But at the same time, by limiting Apple Pay (naturally) to Apple products, it opens the field for a strong cross-platform competitor to emerge. Apple has the chance to lock down the market, but it require them to deviate significantly from their general strategy.
Other companies who could get in on the digital wallet action include Google, who stands the best chance, and possibly Amazon, depending on if they see it as a viable option.
There are also a host of companies currently in the SMB space like Square or PayPal who might try and go consumer side with their payment processing apps, but the fees they currently charge are likely to be prohibitive to mass consumer adoption.
2. The Smartwatch
The smartwatch is the Model T of the wearable industry. The earliest wearables that were actually market-ready were fitness bands like Fitbit. Over the previous 10 months, this single sector has seen a proliferation of brands, products, and prices that is unique among cutting edge tech.
Now, every major tech company has some form of wrist product on the market, a market expected to be worth over $7 billion in 2015.
The best known, of course, is the Apple Watch, which is due for market release early next year, but Samsung has their entire Gear range, Google the Moto 360, and Microsoft threw their hat in the ring a few days ago.
It was leaked last week that even Fitbit is into smartwatches now with the Fitbit Surge.
So while Google Glass and other wearables are cool, the smartwatch is really the first wearable tech that people outside of Silicon Valley will actually use.
3. The Decline of Mass Market Tablet Popularity
It's been a great ride, but as one new wonderful industry thrives with smartwatches, another begins to fade with tablets.
The iPad, the second best seller of Apple behind (waay behind) the iPhone, has been facing troubling times. A combination of tougher competition and more importantly, declining demand has caused sales to dry up.
Why declining demand?
Over the previous year, the phablet has become far more commonplace than before, with the iPhone 6 Plus finally joining the trend.
Laptops like Google's Chromebook's are exceptional machines that are well-priced, and have more practical functionality than a tablet. Plus, it looks like people would rather spend their extra cash on a smartwatch than what amounts to a larger version of their phone.
The result is that there's less actual demand because, for the most part, the role the tablet fills can be filled by other devices (the New York Times called the new iPads “largely unnecessary tablets”). That's not to say that the tablet market will completely evaporate – for real estate agents, designers, sales, and a whole host of other professionals tablets have been a great addition to their workflow.
The tablet has, however, lost the mass market appeal.
So 2014 may be the last year of the iPad. It looks like 2015 is going to belong to other devices.
Those are the tech trends that we see on the horizon in the next 12 months. But there are, of course dozens of other amazing innovations that are just getting started.
