Trend East Asian firms challenging incumbent technology leaders

Summary

In its short-term outlook, the report suggests that today's global technology leaders may keep their technological edge, but that emerging East Asian companies could challenge their dominance. A handful of global technology firms currently have billions of users and a combined market value of almost seven trillion dollars, dominating hardware, software, operating systems and cloud computing. High entry barriers and integrated ecosystems of products and services are cited as reinforcing that dominance. In the opening of its technology theme, the report argues that competition for key components such as advanced semiconductors is driving geopolitical change. The same short-term outlook also raises the prospect that protectionism and fragmented technology ecosystems could limit interoperability.