Anticipated technological advancements will not happen in 2021
11 December 2020: As the year 2020 is coming to an end, several highly anticipated advancements, including environmentally friendly 5G, explainable Artificial Intelligence (AI), mainstream Virtual Reality (AR), and ubiquitous Wi-Fi 6E, will not happen in 2021, states global tech market advisory firm, ABI Research.
In its new whitepaper “68 Technology Trends That Will Shape 2021: Predictions for What Will and Will Not Happen in The Year Ahead,” ABI Research’s analysts identify 37 trends that will shape the technology market and 31 others that are less likely to move the needle over the next twelve months.
Stuart Carlaw, Chief Research Officer at ABI Research, says “For success in 2021, one must understand fundamental trends early, and take a view on those trends that are buoyed by hyperbole and those that are sure to be uncomfortable realities. Now is the time to double down on the right technology investment.”
According to the ABI Report, Global 5G subscriptions are forecast to grow from 234 million in 2020 to 347 million in 2021 at a rate of 48.4%. This accelerated growth in 5G adoption will strain the environment as a growing number of consumers will be switching over to 5G devices to take advantage of the high speeds and low latency. The transition will potentially create large amounts of electronic waste.
And AI built, based on these solutions is not mature enough for mass commercialization. Now, most AI models are not designed for transparency, let alone explain-ability. Hence, do not expect explainable AI to become mainstream in 2021.
Moreover, market elements have not aligned to enable mainstream Virtual Reality (VR) adoption. Growth will be strong in 2021, but the user base will not reach levels once thought probable where VR competes for usage time with TVs, smartphones, and traditional displays. The enterprise sector remains the fastest growth opportunity for now.
As for Wi-Fi 6E, the ever-increasing connected device density and increasing use of bandwidth-intensive applications are always driving the demand for high-efficiency Wi-Fi networks. COVID-19 has further accelerated that demand. The latest solution is Wi-Fi 6E, an extended Wi-Fi 6 with 6 GHz spectrum.
