Silicon Valley and the world were eager to hear what the Mary Meeker report had to say last week – many regard the annual census as a litmus test for the tech industry, where ongoing trends are confirmed.
Recode gives a pretty good summation of the report, along with all of the slides. Tech companies struggling with the ‘Privacy Paradox’ is one key theme, where the collection of personal data is taken under the assumption of improved tailored experiences. Commswork wonders whether a successful blockchain solution can return control of our data back to us as consumers?
2017 was the first year that the shipment of smartphones didn’t increase. But the amount of time people spend online certainly did.
TechCrunch does a handy job of distilling the news into a handy 20 slide deck. Slowing internet user growth continuing from the 2017 report. 2017 is the year of voice thanks to 95 per cent accuracy with the likes of Amazon’s Alexa. Public and private investment in tech companies is at a two decade high with the race to become the dominant player in emerging tech fronts of AI and automation.
Offering a local view, Which-50, reduced its important slides down to just 10, focusing on the $7bn opportunity in mobile advertising (note this is down from $16bn last year with advertisers diverting budgets). Also noting the rise in importance of China on the global stage along with e-commerce within the country when compared with other western nations (well over 20 per cent of all retail sales are made online).
