Our Strategy Team Reviews CES 2015

The Focus of CES is becoming ever more Mobile

Within the short space of three days, the Las Vegas based Consumer Electronics Show 2015 has been and gone and the tech event of the year set the stage for the year ahead. Companies large and small and across a variety of industry verticals showed-off their latest technologies and innovations. According to this years’ impressive display, in the near future we can expect to witness developments such as quantum-dot TVs, driverless cars, laser-guided lights, self-watering plants, flexible (not bendable) screens, 3D food printers and much more. It almost sounds too futuristic to be true!

Here at Fetch, we love keeping our finger on the pulse and CES 2015 was especially interesting as mobile began to take centre-stage. A large number of announcements centred on mobile and it would appear that there is an increasing demand for businesses to ensure that mobile is integrated into their product offering. Three key areas we predict will take off this year are the ever-growing selection of challenger smartphone brands, the expansion of the mHealth wearables market and the diversification of IoT.

Challenger smartphone brands start to compete

Predictably, a variety of smartphones were unveiled and the usual suspects took the opportunity to showcase their latest offerings. HTC showed off their ultra-pixel selfie snapper, Samsung introduced the latest addition to the Galaxy family and LG displayed their second attempt at a curved display smartphone.

(Images left to right: Desire826, Samsung A3 & LG Flex 2)

However, what was really interesting was the emergence of several smaller smartphone manufacturers competing with the big boys. The likes of Asus, Lenovo, Panasonic and ZTE all entered the fray and were looking for a slice of the pie with their latest models. The growing demand for low-cost, high spec devices has provided the traction they needed to enter Western markets and in addition to the likes of Huawei and Xiaomi, we expect to see more of them throughout 2015.

(Images left to right: Asus Zenfone Zoom, ZTE Grand XMax, Lenovo Vibe X2 Pro, Panasonic Lumix CM1 & Kodak IM5)

mHealth wearables expand

Wearables once again played a key role at the CES. From smartwatches to jewellery to footwear, the idea of being able to measure, monitor & track ourselves is clearly set to become the norm amongst consumers and certainly indicates why mHealth wearables are really going to take off this year.

We’re not only referring to tech-savvy consumers and gym enthusiasts who might be interested, but to anyone the wide and varied wearables would likely appeal to. Some interesting announcements included, the Sony B-Smart Trainer that can play music intelligently in order to make you run faster; the Sensoria smart sock fitness tracker that aims to track not only how far and fast you run, but more importantly how well you run; and the Sleep Shepherd Sleep Hat which uses biofeedback to monitor brain waves in real time in order to guide users to sleep. What particularly stood out for us was the fact that almost all wearables were accompanied by a smartphone app that allowed users to record and quantify their activities.

(Images top-to-bottom: Sony B-Smart Trainer, Sensoria Fitness smart sock tracker, Sleep Shepherd Sleep Hat)

IoT diversification

Last year we saw a variety of connected devices such as tennis racquets, tooth brushes and home activity trackers. This time around, nothing changed and the IoT portfolio continued to grow and diversify extensively. From smart mirrors and smart fridge magnets to smart projectors, smart grills and smart security systems, what can be gathered is that consumers are moving into an era where more and more of their daily equipment and home appliances will function in sync with a smartphone.

(Images top-to-bottom: Panasonic smart mirror, Invoxia smart magnet, ZTE Spro 2 smart projectors, Lynx smart grill & Canary smart security)

Some of the cooler tech included Sony’s SmartEyeglass Attach, promising augmented reality in wearables and Parrot’s H2O, allowing plants to water themselves even when the user is not around.

The extent to which these innovations will become a mainstream adoption remains to be seen. However, what can be said with great confidence is that mobile will remain at the centre of the consumer economy.

This article was written by Rishan Weerakoon, Innovation and Insight Executive at Fetch.