Watch out for a “watershed” year in eSports, more disruption in banking and “mass expansion” of virtual reality content in 2017, says Juniper Research in making its top 10 tech predictions.
Heading the list is eSports.
“Juniper has identified 2017 as the watershed year for eSports, or the competitive playing of video games at a professional level, forecasting that there will be over 190 million unique viewers next year across mobile and online channels,” Juniper predicts.
“The company argues that whilst to date revenues have largely been derived from subscriptions to online video platforms such as Twitch, eSports’ loyal and rapidly expanding audience makes it an increasingly attractive proposition for advertisers. With viewing figures beginning to rival those of traditional sporting events – the League of Legends Championship attracted a peak audience of 14 million in December 2015 – Juniper anticipates adspend on the sector rising sharply next year.”
Next is banking desruption.
“The implementation of PSD2 (Directive on Payment Services 2) legislation will be a key disruptor in banking by reducing the barrier of entry to new digital players. It predicts a host of third party players – including retailers, telcos and vendors – will seek to deepen their existing relationships with consumers through the addition of an array of financial products,” Juniper says.
As for virtual reality, watch out for much more content.
Here’s the complete list:
- eSports goes mainstream
- Advent of PSD2 Heralds Banking Disruption
- Mass Expansion of VR Content Creation
- Blockchain Deployments Extend Beyond Financial Industry
- Challenger Banks Mergers & Acquisitions
- Insurtech Disrupts Traditional Insurance Industry
- Battle of the Voice Assistants
- Autonomous Driving Legislation Commences
- Consoles Reinvent Themselves
- Bots are Hot!
Read more at juniper.com
