Conference Presentation, Keynote
Mobile Is Eating the World, 2014
- The online population is projected to reach approximately 4 billion within a few years and rise to roughly three-quarters of the global population by the end of the decade, with over four billion adults possessing mobile devices and smartphones by the same timeframe.
- Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to see most people acquire 3G coverage in the next few years, surpassing the reach of improved water and electricity, while mobile app usage time has already exceeded web usage in the USA and continues to shift rapidly.
- By 2020, the number of smartphones and PCs is anticipated to be two to three times current levels, creating a total opportunity ten times larger due to sensor integration, even as terminology like "Android" and "smartphone" may lose their current definitions.
- Mobile advertising for Facebook has reached a $6.5 billion run rate within the last 24 months, and smartphone and tablet business revenue now constitutes almost half of the global consumer electronics industry.
- Annual photo sharing on social networks is expected to reach approximately 800 billion this year compared to 80 billion in 1999, with total annual photos potentially ranging from ten to one hundred times higher, while sales of iPhone and Android phones have surpassed the entire lifetime sales of the Japanese camera industry.
- Microsoft's share of connected computing devices has dropped to under a quarter while Apple has overtaken the entire PC industry in scale, marking a shift where the San Francisco Bay Area has become the dominant tech hub over Seattle, Finland, and Japan.
- High-performance, low-power smartphone chips are increasingly being utilized in data centers to reduce power and air conditioning costs, and television sets now account for less than a quarter of all global video screens.
- Global LCD screen sales are projected to reach approximately 4 billion square feet this year, equating to nearly one square foot of screen per adult, while technology brands constitute 40% of the value of the top 100 brands with Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon accounting for nearly 20%.
- Despite these shifts, the combined revenue of GAFA remains less than that of the TV, advertising, mobile, or traditional industries like automotive and apparel, and Amazon holds only 1% of the US retail industry with no immediate profitability expected.
- Every company is expected to become a technology company as software absorption creates entirely new businesses, and as technology achieves full adoption, specific industry terminology will disappear and become an invisible standard.