It’s that time of year again when people make their predictions about what will happen next year, which companies will thrive, which industries will boom, what the trends will be and how will be the best way to keep up. However, for around the last five years, maybe more, the predictions have seemed the same, they have always been around AI, voice search, personalization, and smart tech, and while this is still true this year, there are some other things to watch out for too.
Cost-Effective Fuel
According to a study by the consulting firm Grand View Research, the diesel generators market has been growing and is expected to continue to grow in the immediate future. Diesel generating sets are used in places without connection to a power grid, or as emergency power-supply if the grid fails, as well as for more complex applications such as peak-lopping, grid support, and export to the power grid.
While Diesel fuel is priced moderately higher than gasoline, diesel has a higher energy density, i.e., more energy can be extracted from diesel as compared with the same volume of gas. Therefore, diesel engines in automobiles provide higher mileage, making it an obvious choice for heavy-duty transportation and equipment. Diesel is heavier and oilier compared with gasoline and has a boiling point higher than that of water. And diesel engines are attracting more considerable attention due to higher efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
Hybrid & Electric Buses
Perhaps another obvious one, or is it? People are very concerned about climate change and talk about using public transport over their cars, but now more and more transit agencies are looking to hybrid and electric buses to minimize the carbon footprint of the cities they serve. Not only will this benefit the environment, but it will also save them money on the long-term fuel and maintenance savings of these vehicles, despite the initial costs being high. For the same reason, private bus operators are also moving toward electric models. As a result, US sales of hybrid and electric buses are forecast to grow more than 7% per year through 2022, bolstered by technological advances that have made these vehicles run cleaner, smoother, and quieter.
They will become a common sight in many cities in the near future as Volvo has been testing new wireless technologies for electric bus charging in Sweden and new product introductions — including of electric school buses and motor coaches — will increase the range of applications served by electric technologies and support sustained market growth going forward.
Solar Panel Manufacturing
As countries all over the world look to expand their sources of alternative energy, the solar panel manufacturing industry has benefited. From 2014 to 2016, the sector had challenges with too much competition and prices being driven down, followed by rising costs, which then hurt the domestic demand. Despite its challenging times, revenue was projected to grow by more than 10% in this year and will continue to grow in 2020.
Internet Publishing and Broadcasting
Internet publishing and broadcasting were expected to have revenue growth of 13% this, on top of annual growth of 13.6% over the prior five years. This number doesn’t look to be in decreasing for 2020. The number of online users continues to grow, along with how much time they spend online and the increase in mobile connections, devices, and platforms available, the industry should continue to post impressive growth figures.
Smartphones
Did you even know this industry wasn’t still booming? Because everyone has a mobile phone now and there are so many, there have been years of decline and shrinking profits in the industry. However, IDC is estimating the smartphone market might actually grow in 2020, thanks to 5G.
“The anticipation of 5G, beginning with smartphones, has been building for quite some time, but the challenges within the smartphone market over the past three years have magnified that anticipation,” said Ryan Reith of IDC.
“To be clear, we don’t think 5G will be the saviour in smartphones, but we do see it as a critical evolution in mobile technology. We expect the 5G ramp on smartphones to be more subtle than what we saw with 4G, but that is primarily because we are in a much different market today.” He added.
So if you’re thinking of starting a business, investing your money somewhere, or want to know what you could be up against in terms of competition, then keep looking ahead, stay on top of the trends, and be ready.
