Tech that will shape home outlined in TrendForce’s Top 10 Trends for 2019

TrendForce cross-examination of upcoming developments in the IT and communication sectors provides some insight into what technologies may propel the home technology sector forward in 2019 beyond.

Research specialist TrendForce’s report may focus on the information and communication industry, but there is still considerable crossover with the consumer industry and new developments that shape the future use of technology in the home. See what they had to say regarding the most important trends for the year ahead below.

Highlights from TrendForce’s Top 10 list that affect the home tech sector:

 

Commercial 5G to rollout in 2019

TrendForce states that the acceleration of the deployment of the optical communication infrastructure (the foundation of 5G network) will be a key theme for 2019, following a few years of the 5G architecture being gradually expanded from backbone network to metropolitan area network and access network – crucially, lowering its cost.

TrendForce states, “Commercialisation of 5G is expected to roll out in 2019, with 5G telecom services to be launched in United States, South Korea, Japan, and China.” Critically, for smart home connectivity and IoT product development, major advances in 5G mobile wireless systems “will support higher bandwidth and faster connection, enriching ecosystems” and potentially generating demand for more “high resolution (4K/8K) video, mobile AR/VR gaming and immersive multimedia applications” and a “massive Internet of Things”, amongst other things.

Mini LED making its way into the consumer display market

Considering the potential of “mini” or “micro” LEDs, TrendForce says the technology’s “advantages in brightness and contrast” give it a real chance “to compete with OLED in segments of cinema display and home theatre.”

The fact that mini LED-based backlights incorporate blue LED as the basic light source (rather than self-emitting RGB LED digital displays/video wall), is key for the technology’s adoption, as it makes it more cost-effective. “Mini LED has higher potential to make its way into the blue ocean of displays of consumer electronics, including smartphone, tablets, desktops, TVs, and automotive displays,” forecasts the researcher, who predicts that the next two years (2019-2020) will see the market grow to a market value of US$1,699 million by 2022.

More applications to enable voice interaction, opening up new opportunities

With “smart” speakers still a major talking point in 2018, TrendForce says their presence will continue to grow in applications supporting voice interaction – such as smart TVs, smart headsets and vehicles. “Looking forward to 2019, increasing number of applications will enable voice interaction, including virtual assistant, voice recognition, voice shopping, etc.,” affirms the research. It adds: “Companies will continue to develop new voice-activated applications to explore the market potential.”

A key year for IoT with intensified competition

This year may have already witnessed the huge growth in the  Internet of Things (IoT) sector – with the commercial use of low power wide area networks (LPWAN) becoming popular worldwide – but TrendForce forecasts more growth in 2019 as Edge computing and AI become integrated to IoT architectures.

Although important for the home, TrendForce says key developments will happen among enterprises as they evaluate the worth of incorporating IoT into their strategy, and competition between providers vying for their business intensifies.

 

Other trends from TrendForce’s Top 10 for 2019 report:

The memory industry will show acceleration and evolution, driven by next-generation products and advanced die-stacking technology

Smartphone specs to be upgraded, foldable and 5G smartphones to be launched in 2019

Under-display fingerprint sensor to be embedded in mid and high-end smartphones

eSIM to provide added value to smartwatches, driving the market growth

New technologies to change the landscape of healthcare industry

Smart grid, energy management and energy storage system to be keys of global photovoltaic market






Most Viewed