The transformations in the industry underlines the fact that manufacturers are seeking newer markets and trying to expand frontiers as existing ones come under duress. While demand declines in traditional categories, there is a great possibility to expand around them with improved or improvised versions. So we have seen that when the convertible came along, suddenly the PC market was exciting once more all again. We have seen more recently with the all in one PC from leading manufacturers including Microsoft, that as a form factor, it has become sleeker by design and more powerful feature wise. Similarly we have seen several improved technologies including AR added to smartphones that continue to invigorate the category and sustain consumer interest.

There are spectacular innovations in categories including displays or projectors, which show innovation is not remaining limited to select segments. All across the spectrum, manufacturers are pushing the envelope to get innovations in that broaden the total addressable market for their product categories. Kudos to these companies that have the commitment to deliver better technologies and what’s more even entry level and mid-range products across many categories today sport great features, which means great value for money propositions.

The enduring success of events like both editions GITEX Shopper for instance and GITEX Technology week reveals how companies continue to bring in new products and technologies to meet the consumer’s rising expectations. For instance at the spring edition of Shopper this year, Dell unveiled new industry-first additions to its  XPS and Alienware portfolio – the XPS 13 2-in-1, and the Alienware 13, 15 and 17. The manufacturer also used the platform for the launch of its brand new Inspiron 15 7000 Gaming laptop. On the other hand, Toshiba showcased its innovative Canvio for Smartphone, that provides charging and storage together. TransferJet, arguably the latest in wireless transfer, ensuring faster content transfer that is 10 times faster than Wi-Fi and 100 times faster than Bluetooth and a new generation FlashAir SD Card that wirelessly transfers photos and videos from a camera straight to any mobile device were also products it made available at the expo.

We are right in the middle of an era of  devices that will continue to push teh envelope as far as innovation goes. Existing form factor devices will get better and there will be new categories will come long. who would have know that Wearables for instance would be a category for instance in Technology a few years ago?

It looks like we are still only at the beginning. While the ASP (average selling price) of technology products may take a tumble and lifecycle of each generation of technologies may be shorter than before, there is no denying the fact that this is still an industry whose products are bought and consumed more. Of course, the channel continues to face challenges in terms of profitability but as I have discussed through earlier columns, the key is to take several of these products to market together with some value add services.