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Industry briefng
From mega-mergers to
wearable tech, data privacy to
an overdue boost in battery
performance, here are ten
trends set to shape the
wireless industry in 2014.
Compiled by
WDS, A Xerox Company.
Technology Services Consulting
Mobile Trends 2014

WDS Mobile Trends 2014
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www.wds.co
At the beginning of each year we put our reputation on the line to identify 10 key
trends we expect to shape the mobile industry over the coming 12 months.
This is the ffth year weve run our annual trends and so far our predictions seemto have been on-target.
Sure, we dont get everything rightbut last year our viewof Androids broader role in the consumer electronics
industry, the continued relevance of feature phones and a slow-down in patent litigation have all rung-true to
a certain extent.
To kick of2014 weve compiled a fresh set of predictions. Some will be familiar; others may take you by
surprise. Of course we welcome your comments. Let us knowif you agree or disagree with this years list.

@wdscompany
Mobile Trends 2014
Contents

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wds.co/blog

wdspodcast
5 Smartphone manufacturers fex their muscles
7 iOS and Android hit the road
9 Chinese smartphones come of age
11 Sportswear manufacturers lead the charge in wearable tech
13 Your call is important to us
15 Respect my privacy
17 Mega-mergers
19 Camera resolutions reignite the spec war
21 Batteries fnally get a boost
23 Social sentiment improves decision making
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The formfactor of todays smartphone has
stagnated, which makes the potential for fexible
materials all the more exciting.
Its still early days and while we sawsome interesting
announcements in 2013, we dont expect to see
fagship devices sporting fexible displays this year.
However, 2014 will be the year of experimentation
with OEMs exploring curved devices, wrap-around
screens, diferent shaped devices and devices that
can fex.
Some will be little more than a gimmick or design-
concept, but by the end of the year we should
have a better idea of the true benefts delivered by
fexible components, and be ready for more serious
contenders in 2015.
Expect Asian brands to lead the charge on this
technology with devices fromLG and Samsung
showing early innovation.
Smartphone manufacturers fex their muscles
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Flexible
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Hyundai, Kia, Tesla and Mini have already
announced the integration of smartphone OS
platforms in their upcoming launches and we
expect this trend to spread like wild fre across the
automotive industry.
Today, automotive brands implement diferent
proprietary OS platforms to power their in-car
computers and multimedia systems. As such, they
have a closed systemthat users cant modify.
By implementing smartphone OS platforms,
automotive brands can expand the possibilities of
interaction between the driver and the car.
The two big contenders are iOS and Android, with
both announcing automotive partnerships and
development projects.
Obvious (and immediate) benefts will focus
on smarter multimedia applications for in-car
entertainment, with music and video integrated
closely with passenger devices, cloud storage
accounts and content libraries. Also, look out for
location and mapping applications as well as social
check-ins.
By next year, as the volume of connected cars
increases, well see the arrival of an entirely new
app ecosystem; supporting the needs of the driver
through entertainment, telemetry, navigation and
more.
iOS and Android hit the road
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Vrroom
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Chinese brands are hitting the market hard with
impressive devices at very competitive price
points.
Historically, Chinese manufacturers have posed the
greatest threat at the low-end of the smartphone
market but this year we can expect to see increased
competition at the high-end. However, despite high-
quality implementations and the latest specs, price
will remain the primary weapon.
As such, by the end of the year we expect that three
of the top fve smartphone manufacturers (by
shipment volume) will be Chinese.
In 2013 Samsung and Apple held their lead and we
expect they will continue to do so in 2014. However,
3rd, 4th and 5th positions remain unsteady and by
the end of 2014 we predict Huawei, Lenovo and ZTE
will secure all three spots.
Chinese smartphones come of age
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China
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Wearable tech was the buzzword of 2013, but this
year we expect tech brands to step it up a gear
and launch wearables designed to be worthy of a
more discerning wish list.
Like fexible displays, 2014 is perhaps a little too
early for us to confdently predict a mass-market
explosion of wearable tech. However, it will remain a
key focus for many companies, attracting start-ups,
investment and exploration by a wider ecosystemof
brands.
Of course, well see continued innovation around
high-profle products such as the Samsung Gear
and Google Glass. However 2014 will see more
innovative applications of biometric technology
embedded within sportswear, with companies such
as Nike, Apple and Fitbit leading the charge.
More interesting will be howestablished clothing
brands partner with technology brands. Will luxury
brands embrace or reject the idea of wearable tech?
Sportswear manufacturers lead the charge in wearable tech
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Wearables
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Automated customer care and technical support
will become more intelligent as several key
technologies converge around the support
industry.
Being able to automate customer care and technical
support has long held many promises for brands
looking to reduce their support costs; and for
customers wanting an efcient means of resolving a
problem. However the reality has never quite lived up
to the promise. Rambling IVR systems, overwhelming
online knowledge bases and less-than-intelligent
online support avatars have frustrated customers
for years. However 2014 is the beginning of the
end for these technologies as automated customer
support gets turned on its head.
Due to the cost of running traditional support
environments (stafed by thousands of people) the
support business is one of those industries that
attracts a surprising amount of R&D investment.
Today, a number of complementary technologies
are beginning to mature and converge around the
industry. Voice recognition, sentiment analysis,
machine learning and natural language processing
have all come of age to deliver more accurate,
automated support solutions that could shave
millions of dollars ofa brands annual support bill.
Were talking about automated support interfaces
able to understand the context of a question,
identify sentiment and interpret a natural
conversation while self-learning and factoring-in
customer preferences (time of day, location, etc), to
ensure a right-frst-time solution.
Your call is important to us
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Smart
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Technology brands are at the center of a privacy
debate, caught between government protocol and
their customers best interests.
Privacy was a big issue in 2013. In particular, people
began to understand just howmuch of their data
was open to being monitored by government
agencies around the world. Consumer sensitivity
has since increased and its the tech brands that are
hurting the most.
People wont use technology they dont trust,
said Brad Smith, Microsofts general counsel, in a
statement to the US Congress. Governments have
put this trust at risk, and governments need to help
restore it.
Brands including Apple, Yahoo, Facebook, Twitter,
AOL and LinkedIn have joined Google and Microsoft
in mounting a public campaign to limit government
surveillance and protect their customers.
We expect 2014 to bring greater transparency on
the collection and usage of data as well as new
functionality within well-known services that place
privacy controls front-and-center, handing power
back to the consumer.
Respect my privacy
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Privacy
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Mobile operators around the world will further
consolidate in a bid to combat slowgrowth,
increasing costs and shareholder demands.
In 2013 we sawmass consolidation of the US market;
AT&T bought Leap Wireless, T-Mobile bought
MetroPCS, Softbank bought Sprint and Sprint
bought out its remaining stake in Clearwire.
In Europe, the year started with regulatory approval
of a merger between Hutchinson and Orange in
Austria by the European Commission; creating a
highly concentrated Austrian mobile market. We
also sawTelefonica buy E-Plus in Germany.
Many have seen these deals as the start of
something bigger; a more relaxed regulatory
framework that has traditionally protected
competition by maintaining consumer choice.
While the US is likely to settle down in 2014, we
predict a hotbed of activity in Europe with at least
one non-European buyer looking to make its mark
on the continent.
Further afeld, keep an eye on Africa where
consolidation will be a viable (although difcult)
means of improving returns for struggling mobile
operators. Also, Australias large number of MVNOs
is creating real pressure for consolidation.
Mega-mergers
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Fusion
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In the early days of the smartphone, camera
resolutions were at the center of the spec-war.
It was a key diferentiator in a sea of identi-kit
devices.
By 2012 things had begun to settle down and
resolutions normalized between 8-12 megapixels.
Then, in 2013, Nokia bought us a feat of engineering
genius with a 41 megapixels camera phone (the
Nokia Lumia 1020); and the race was back on.
We have already seen Sony deliver a 20.7 megapixel
camera in its fagship Xperia Z1 and the likes
of Samsung and Apple are expected to deliver
signifcant improvements on their current camera
specs, each sporting cameras in the region of 20
megapixels. However, for 2014 at least, we expect
that smartphone cameras with 30+ megapixels will
reside within a niche segment of the market, rather
than in key fagship devices.
As smartphone cameras move beyond the point-
and-shoot market and into something a little
more serious, we should also expect improvements
to camera software with greater control over
exposure, shutter speed, ISO, white balance and
focus. Likewise expect optical image stabilization
technology to trickle down into mid-range devices.
Camera resolutions reignite the spec war
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Smile
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When it comes to innovation, the humble battery
has been neglected. However, we predict 2014
to be the year we receive the news weve all been
waiting for.
Battery technology has been falling behind in recent
years. The stock answer has simply been to increase
the battery capacity, granting the user another hour
of usage (at best).
Poor battery performance is one of the unfortunate
compromises we all have to make as we demand
faster, bigger and higher resolution devices.
However, scientists the world over are racing to
extend the boundaries of lithiumbattery technology.
Over the last year, weve seen signifcant
advancements in the development of silicon super-
capacitors that promise full re-charge in minutes
with battery life that lasts for weeks.
Its a long-shot, but this year we expect the
technology to be further developed for commercial
use and the launch of a super-capacitor powered
smartphone to be announced by the end of the year.
We can all but hope.
Batteries fnally get a boost
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Oomph
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Using social media for customer engagement is
so 2013.
The huge volume of social trafc passing through
platforms such as Twitter has been largely untapped
as a source of customer insight.
While brands have matured in their use of
social tools to communicate with, and
even support, customers, most have
been unable to cut through petabytes
of noise to understand customer
sentiment in a way that can improve
internal decision making.
However, the technology matured quickly in the
last half of 2013 and we expect more and more
brands to start building social sentiment into
their product development lifecycles and business
planning processes; keeping track of product /
service performance, monitoring customers feature
requests, analyzing buying habits and even acting as
an early warning systemfor potential support issues.
Social sentiment improves decision making
Social
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WDS, A Xerox Company is the trading name of Wireless Data Services Ltd registered in England and Wales with company number 01714719.
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errors or omissions. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced without the prior permission of WDS. Copyright: WDS 2014
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