TrendForce projects that the 2016 global smartphone shipments will be at 1.34 billion units, showing just a 5.8% annual growth as well as a consecutive decline from the estimated 8.3% annual growth of this year.
The competition to develop applications for artificial intelligence (AI) in the field of information and communication technologies (ICT) heats up as tech giants scramble to acquire AI-based startups and related industry talents in order to strengthen their strategic positions.
The latest tablet shipment report from TrendForce projects the 2015 global tablet shipments to reach 163 million units, a 14.9% year-on-year decline and a downward revision from the previous estimation. Factors behind the correction include the global economic downturn and the lack of innovative features in the current range of tablets.
The emergence of car sharing services began with the founding of Zipcar in 1999. Since then, car sharing has taken off across the world due to its flexibility when compared with traditional car rental and carpooling services. Some well-known car sharing operations include Autolib, a French-based venture that has been expanding aggressively, and the popular micro-transportation program in Hangzhou, China.
Smart home technologies have been developing rapidly since 2014. From Google’s US$3.2 billion acquisition of Nest at the start of 2014 to the 2015 CES earlier this year, the explosive growth in the smart home market was reflected by a proliferation of various application products.