Five tech trends in 2022

Recent years have brought numerous technological innovations. Self-driving cars, commercial space flights, artificial intelligence in healthcare and more. MASTERS has therefore examined what is hot in the technology field. What else awaits us in 2022.

There have been a lot of innovations in technology in recent years. The self-driving car, commercial flights to space, artificial intelligence in healthcare and so on. MASTERS has therefore taken a look at what is hot and happening in the technological field. Text: Noa Verseveldt
Online editor: Patrick Stoffer

Custom supply chain

After a year in which consumer demand increased and the global flow of goods came under pressure, production chains, the path a product takes from supplier to customer, will be improved in 2022. This will most likely also improve collaboration between companies. This step was necessary, because we see the risk of an inadequate production chain among retailers and manufacturers. This means that the production chain cannot deliver what is expected. An adapted production chain will help to accelerate investments and acquisitions. Adjusting the production chain is mainly about helping connect the suppliers, upgrading systems for the sector's service providers. And also building interconnectedness between companies and making data exchange easier for companies.

Electric vehicles with mergers and acquisitions

Emerging electric vehicle designers will consider mergers with special “acquisition” companies. Some start-up specialized companies involved in electric vehicles are considering such a merger with special acquisition companies. This way the industry can continue to grow. SigmaSense, a provider of touchscreen technology, plans to apply its system to electric vehicles in 2022. The company will consider a merger when it starts generating revenue in 2023. An industry advisor expects that smaller, specialized vehicle manufacturers such as Tropos Technologies are candidates for merger or acquisition. Full-sized passenger cars are more expensive to build and more difficult to bring to market.

Buy now, pay later

The buy now, pay later sector has seen a surge of interest and transactions that many professionals and insiders expect to continue into 2022. The services allow customers to pay for purchases afterwards, without knowing anything about the buyer's financial situation. The four largest global companies are: Affirm based in the US, the Australian company Afterpay, Klarna from Sweden and the Australian company Zip. Sezzle, Zip, Openpay and Laybuy are seen as potential companies to be acquired. Klarna and Affirm may not be so easy to buy. Rather, they are considered potential buyers. More rules could come into play in 2022. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau opened an investigation into Affirm, Afterpay, Klarna, PayPal and Zip in December. The agency is concerned about consumers' mounting debt and data collections. A director of one of the companies said he would not be surprised if regulations surrounding checkout change. For example, the time limit on missed payments. But he also said this is unlikely to deter mergers and acquisitions in the sector.

Space tourism

The technological advancements of 2021 will ensure that space travel will continue to develop this year. Last year, space tourism was introduced by Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic. SpaceX's Starship finally launched on a successful mission and NASA landed its rover on Mars. It is estimated that the global space industry could grow from approximately €308 billion to as much as €882 billion by 2040. Also in 2021, a significant number of space companies went public through acquisition mergers. If the industry continues to make extensive use of mergers and acquisitions, it could lead to a merger of the industry, causing the suppliers they are trying to recruit for technologies or employees to merge into one another. More technologies are expected to be incorporated into space operations.

Mobile games

Investors have taken note of the rising value in games and acquisitions. The investors are fueled by the money being pumped into the market. The enormous market opportunity is perhaps the biggest attraction. It is estimated that the global games market will reach a turnover of €2021 billion in 158,9. With mobile games raking in €82,1 billion, followed by console games (€44,4 billion) and PC games (€32,3 billion). Mobile games are ripe for convergence because they are more accessible than other types of online games. It is less time and money intensive to create mobile games than it is to build games.