What’s Next In Technology

Technology is constantly improving. We all know can see the progress that companies such as Samsung, apple and intel are making. It seems like only a few years ago that we thought that it would be impossible to fit 100 songs onto an iPod. Now most Americans hold the internet and unlimited potential in their hands. There is a simple theory out there that explains this exponential growth in the potential of our processors. Moore’s law states that states that the speed and capability of computers can be expected to double every two years, as a result of increasing efficiency in microchips. Despite this increase in potential the consumer will not see a drastic increase in the price. Essentially, we are looking at a situation where technology is rapidly approaching a point where it is smarter than the average consumer that tries to use it.

               It is because of this that Christensen believes that many of these tech companies are inadvertently overshooting their market. A customer is overshot when the product or service provided to them offers more features than they can utilize. My favorite example of this is the Samsung vs Apple phone competition. Samsung phones have better processors and can be personalized to a greater degree by consumers with the proper knowledge. On the other side apple is focusing on features that the average consumer can use. As a result, their brand has even managed to reach some older generations that previously were non consumers within the smart phone market. Another example of overshooting in competition is the Sony PlayStation. The PlayStation again has the higher processing speed and potential for higher definition., Xbox on the other hand offers a more personalized console that average first time users would have no problem figuring out.

               If we acknowledge the trend of these companies to over shoot consumers with their technology and that the tech is only going to improve over the next two years, it would stand to reason that low end companies may have the opportunity to enter these markets and disrupt it. If these companies don’t protect their brands and market shares effectively, we could see a consumer shift into lower priced markets that satisfy the needs of the consumers. Of course, there will always be consumers that prefer the high end or premium market features, but this will become a smaller segment rather than the majority that we see today.