3 technologies to watch in 2019

IDTechEx CEO Raghu Das identifies three of the most important technology trends that you need to know about this year.

Bendable displays have finally become a consumer product

It’s been no easy feat — making multiple layers of sensitive materials work reliably while the whole device is being flexed. The ‘supplier push’ for such displays is due to the increasing need to differentiate a relatively saturated smartphone and tablet market and enable higher pricing by offering something with added value. The ‘user pull’ comes from the ideal of having a large display when you need it but in a portable format. Many new foldable display products will come to market from 2019 but apps and user interface design now need to catch up.

The automotive ivory tower is beginning to crumble

For decades a few companies have dominated the automotive market. Today, they are generally all misfooted with high amounts of capital in the dying technology of internal combustion engines. Pure-play EV companies are racing forward without the ties of old technology legacy. Additionally, software and consumer electronic companies are automating vehicles resulting in a peak car scenario in 2030. China is vying for global vehicle domination through shrewd strategies and investments in electric power train vehicles and batteries. There are opportunities galore for the new enabling materials and components in electric power train vehicles, but the incumbents that blink may go the way of Polaroid.

The wearable medical revolution

Wearables were fun while the fun of wearing them lasted. Then they became a chore to charge and sales slowed. Providers are now switching to wearables with ongoing healthcare value. This is increasingly being supported by changes in regulation allowing the data from such devices to provide a valuable stream of medical information. New form factors are untethering patients from wired machines, such as heart rate monitoring skin patches, or overcoming the absurd need to continuously cut yourself to draw blood for glucose testing, thanks to continuous glucose sensors. Preventing and diagnosing quickly at the point of care is the priority of many — healthcare providers, governments and consumer electronics alike.

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Originally published here.