Kazuhiro Obara, who interviewed CES 2023 held in early January, said, “The trends in the technology industry after 2023 can be broadly described with seven keywords.” Continuing from the first part, we will consider the remaining four keywords.
As I mentioned in Part 1, there are two things that happen from innovation to the implementation stage.
The first is “popularization/democratization,” in which many companies create and lower prices. Another is “differentiation”.
The point is, when you enter as a latecomer, you have to say, “What is different from the leading company?”
From that point of view, this year’s CES played a very important role as a place to “know the use cases” rather than actually knowing the technology and the final product.
4. 2023 Will Be The Year Of Differentiation For Democratized Technology
The Cambrian Explosion, which occurred 540 million years ago, dramatically increased biodiversity. Mr. Ohara points out that the technology industry has entered a phase where it is necessary to go from concept to mass implementation and question society.
In a nutshell, my view of CES as a whole is that we are in a period of Cambrian explosion of technology.
2023 is the year of differentiation for various technologieswill be In other words, it should be a year in which various designs will be released.
On top of that, the “Cambrian Explosion” is a fertility and death world where a lot of life was born and only a small part survived evolutionary selection.
Only about 8% of the emerging manufacturers coming out this year may survive.
But the important thing is not who survives.Behind the Prolific ProposalGain insight into the context of “what was your goal as a whole?”that is important.
5. Examples of “explosion of use cases”
As technological innovation creates new design possibilities, new use cases and functions are born. Looking at the process as a concrete example, there is a realization.
I will give an example.
This is the use case and its development of Powerfoyle exhibited at CES. I saw it at CES two years ago, but it won the CES innovation award.
Although it is a solar panel, it is a new material that gives it a leather-like design. You’ll be able to create “rechargeable” products with what looks like leather.
Technological innovation occurs, and when it takes on design, it begins to be applied to various use cases, and “diversification” occurs rapidly.
In fact, at CES2023, we teamed up with Adidas to create the “RPT-02 SOL” headphones that you can listen to while charging with sunlight.
* Adidas’ solar charging headphones “RPT-02 SOL” have already been released as a product that uses Powerfoyle.
Adidas solar charging headphones “RPT-02 SOL”.
POC Sports, which develops helmets for sports, has announced a bicycle helmet. While riding a bicycle, you can charge the light on the back of your head and run without running out of battery.
The “OMNE ETERNAL” helmet with a back lamp that uses Powerfoyle to operate without charging. It can be purchased in Japan for 32,500 yen.
This is how the use case explosion happens.
What is interesting is what Powerfoil, which I saw as it entered the popularization period, did it. I thought, “Where is the most businessable place to capture the use case?”
So we partnered with OHSUNG Electronics.
A solar-powered remote control made in partnership with Ohsung Electronics.
OHSUNG Electronics is a little-known manufacturer, but it is actually a major company that manufactures remote controls for televisions and home appliances.
There have been products in the past with a solar panel attached to the remote control, but if you mount it normally, it will look uncool. If we can grasp the use case of “a world where the batteries of remote controls never run out” after having an excellent design, Powerfoil can take an overwhelming share in that world.
6. A sense of crisis in Japan. Samsung wins tech geopolitics
Samsung’s huge booth at CES2023. It was an exhibition that strongly pushed SmartThings.
Also, the next “delicious industry” came into view at CES. That’s the smart home.
Smart homes have been a CES exhibit theme for quite some time now.
Even so, it did not move dramatically because the cooperation with other companies was extremely weak. Without a single company to provide all products, it would not have been possible to achieve the greatest advantage of smart homes, which is that all devices are connected, integrated, and automatically controlled.
With the establishment of the global unified standard called Matter, we are now in a transitional period of openness. Then, the game change, the point of the strategy changes drastically.
A good example of this was Samsung.
This time, Samsung was promoting smart homes with a considerable area even in the huge booth in the central hall.
Nine years ago, in 2014, Samsung acquired an IoT platform company called SmartThings, and went on the offensive with that exhibit.
An exhibit that strongly emphasizes Samsung’s SmartThings. It was appealing that there is an ecosystem with such a wide range of compatible products.
Press conference held by Samsung at CES2023. Under the umbrella of the SmartThings platform, we have announced a globally unified standard Metter compatible hub.
In addition, at CES 2023 as a whole, there are actually 540 companies exhibiting in the smart home field alone. It’s like a “Cambrian Explosion”.
This time, Samsung also says that it will be the first to respond to this Matter.
You might be thinking, “Well, Matter wins, not Samsung,” but that’s not the case.
When it comes to open collaboration, it is very important for positioning to “take a dashboard” in terms of UX and UI, rather than being selected for the functions of the product itself.
For example, in the case of Samsung this time, what they presented was this tiny IoT control hub.
Samsung has announced SmartThings Station, a SmartThings hub that supports the smart home standard Matter.
This is Kimo.
Since it is a charger, for example, if you install it on your bedside, you will naturally put your smartphone on it.
Triggered by this behavior, the fact that the smartphone is left on the charger for a long period of time indicates that the person is sleeping. Then, you can automate things like “the light bulbs dim”, “the air conditioning reaches the right temperature for sleeping”, and “the alarm is automatically set”.
In this way, as long as you take the “entrance of action”, any company will do, for example, for light bulbs.
So this timeProudly announced that it will partner with Philips Hue, the largest smart light bulb in the United StatesSo you do. There is no need to enter the red ocean light bulb now.
However, there are some things about smart homes that CES alone can’t tell. After all, it is because there are almost no Chinese manufacturers exhibiting.
To be honest, Japan is three laps behind when it comes to digital healthcare and smart homes.
However, as of 2023, due to the decoupling of China and the United States, it is geopolitically difficult for Chinese companies to expand into the United States.There is a void in the ‘geopolitics of technology’That’s it.
Seeing this as a winning opportunity, Samsung took it at once. It looks like this to me.
Originally, if Japanese home appliance makers were doing well, they would have taken the same position as Samsung. I am astonished at this that I have allowed it with my fingers.
7. Japan has a chance to catch up
Of course, it remains to be seen whether Matter as a standard will really be everyone’s choice. Neither Google nor Amazon have gotten serious yet.
However, in smart homes, the hub may be Samsung, but Japan may still be able to expand its territory when it comes to digital healthcare.
Also, looking at this year’s exhibition area, there is still the possibility of winning in smart cooking (food tech).
However,Whether it’s digital healthcare or smart cooking, the main battlefield is essentially “how to take the dashboard”am.
When you take a dashboard, the data naturally accumulates. Then, it can be automated with AI, and AI can learn patterns and create use cases that provide new experiences.
If there is a “revolution” that can be brought about by a manufacturer in which Japan has strengths, it is whether or not it can get this dashboard.
And in any case, as I wrote in the first and second parts, now that we have entered the “era where the concept has been decided”, we will enter the battle of “where to position in the value network”. increase.
Source: BusinessInsider
Emma Warren is a well-known author and market analyst who writes for 24 news breaker. She is an expert in her field and her articles provide readers with insightful and informative analysis on the latest market trends and developments. With a keen understanding of the economy and a talent for explaining complex issues in an easy-to-understand manner, Emma’s writing is a must-read for anyone interested in staying up-to-date on the latest market news.