2023 was a stellar year for consumer technology. We now have more gadgets that make our daily lives more efficient and easier to manage than ever before. Consumer tech is an industry that never slows down, and if the latest CES is anything to go by, 2024 will be packed with exciting new trends in gaming, Virtual Reality, and more.
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Recapping Existing Trends
Before we dive into the key trends that will likely emerge both here in Africa, and across the globe, we’ll recap some of the existing trends from 2022 that will undoubtedly continue to develop in 2024.
One of the key gaming tech sectors likely to keep building in 2024 is remote sports betting. This profitable segment of the iGaming industry has been surging in popularity over the past few years. Now, with more states legislating the practice in the key US market, as well as odds comparison sites making it easy to search for bonus codes from top-name casino operators, the take-up of remote sports betting is set to increase substantially.
Mobile gaming is another established sector that’s set for further expansion in 2024, particularly since a number of big studios and entertainment companies are planning additional investments into mobile gaming development via mergers and acquisitions. Microsoft’s attempted acquisition of Activision Blizzard early in 2022 is just one of the more high-profile movements from last year, but in total, over 970 mergers and acquisitions were carried out.
With new mobile games set to become increasingly more immersive as high-profile brands buy up development studios, this will likely result in smartphone manufacturers releasing more advanced handsets to meet gaming requirements.
New Trends for 2024
CES, the world’s largest consumer tech trade show, consistently predicts the benchmark for the trends that will dominate the forthcoming year. 2023’s edition was no different. It featured a flood of innovative products and exciting announcements from brands as diverse as Samsung, Neutrogena, and John Dee.
Sustainability
One of the central themes that were apparent in CES 2023 —which took place in Las Vegas from the 5th to the 8th of January — was sustainability. Practically every brand that exhibited products made a point of highlighting their sustainability efforts, be that Samsung’s new partnership with eco-focused Patagonia, or Asus’ longstanding commitment to increasing its use of recycled plastic.
However, as Lopez Research founder and principal analyst Maribel Lopez states, consumer tech companies are “just at the beginning of the journey”, despite sustainability being a “key pillar for consumer electronics”.
Virtual Reality
Virtual reality tech holds the potential to transform everything from gaming to business operations, but companies are only just beginning to understand how to harness it. While previous attempts have been made in recent years to make VR more accessible with the introduction of consumer headsets and a range of gaming and interactive experiences, there’s still yet to be a significant breakthrough that will see it crack the mainstream.
Things may well begin to turn around for the sector in 2023. Manufacturers are now focused on producing lightweight VR hardware that is more affordable and easier to use. HTC was one of the brands to unveil its vision of virtual reality’s future with the HTC Vive XR Elite. This stand-alone headset is also PC-compatible, showcasing the versatility needed if VR tech is going to become a consumer staple.
A More Efficient Smart Home
Smart home technology was initially designed to make daily living more effortless. However, a fully-equipped smart home requires a surprisingly large number of consumables, from light bulbs to soft furnishings, as well as device-based software like Alexa and Siri. A new open-source smart home protocol that made its way to CES 2023 may just be the answer to overly complex gadgets in the home.
The matter has been in development for several years and has been much anticipated. It possesses the functionality to bundle together core smart home programs such as Google Assistant, SmartThings, and the aforementioned Alexa and Siri. A number of Matter-compatible consumables have already been released, including smart lights, while plans are in place to launch smart home cameras and robot vacuums in conjunction with its next launch in summer 2023. Biggest Consumer Tech Trends for 2023