Editor’s note: This article was first published in May 2013, and every forecast in it, including mobile payments replacing cash, streaming replacing traditional distribution, cheaper solar panels and natural gas cars over electric ones, dates from 2013. Several have since played out differently or more fully.
A new research report from the investment bank Citi looks at 7 technologies that are already here, that keep growing and that will disrupt the way we do business across a range of industries and sectors, such as energy, entertainment, computing and transport.
Some of these ideas emerged relatively recently; others have been around for some time and will now start to get better and cheaper.
1. 3D printing
3D printers continue to revolutionise industry. Thanks to falling commodity prices, simpler software and the ability to produce the most complex designs, this technology is about to take off. According to the Citi report, in the future 50% of the parts used in manufacturing across various industries could be made by 3D printers. (Read: Everything you can do with a 3D printer.) Of course, it’s not all good news: these printers have also made it possible to produce the first undetectable handguns that fire real ammunition.
2. E-cigarettes
“Battery-powered smoke”, or electronic cigarettes: although doubts remain about how harmful they are, the truth is that they are infinitely less toxic than ordinary cigarettes, and they can also be used in places where smoking is banned. It is said that the tobacco companies themselves could start making this kind of cigarette, and that over time the e-cigarette might even become their main business. Of course, in that case we are talking about a somewhat more distant future.
3. Genomic and personalised medicine
People, and medicine itself, are increasingly interested in linking their genetic makeup to the likelihood of developing certain diseases in the future. Biotechnology and nanomedicine will also be among the businesses of the future. (Read: The 10 jobs of the future.)
4. Mobile payments
Physical cash will tend to disappear, or at least be used less. Just as large commercial transactions are made by bank transfer rather than in cash, in the medium term even retail (clothes shops, supermarkets…) will stop using cash, and people will pay directly with their phones. More and more cities around the world are adopting the mobile wallet. Since this kind of payment could trigger a surge in cybercrime, security and monitoring for these transactions will also become an industry in high demand and very profitable.
5. From petrol to compressed natural gas
We talk a lot about hybrid and electric cars, but for now the fuel business is growing faster in compressed natural gas (CNG). In the Middle East at least, petrol vehicles are switching to CNG rather than to electric power. In the future cars will probably be electric, but in the short and medium term the business is in natural gas.
6. The future of film and television is streaming
In the medium term, films and TV shows will no longer go through traditional networks and distributors. Recently founded companies such as Roku have already brought in 5 million by streaming video directly over the internet. Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and Google are also building businesses of their own to supply the market with their own films and TV shows. In other words, they will take over this business. The film industry is not dying; a different kind of industry is simply being born.
7. Solar photovoltaic power
The cost of solar panels is starting to fall, and the unlimited resource that is solar energy is being turned to profit more and more effectively. It has often been said that solar power is not profitable and is very expensive to produce, but that message is starting to change: wind and solar together are expected to receive close to 2 trillion in investment over the next 20 years.
Further reading
- Human longevity, beauty and new technologies: the businesses of the future
- Business trends for 2012–2015
- The most profitable business ideas
- Innovative businesses around the world
Featured image: John Abella from Outside Philadelphia, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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