Studies

Research Highlights Top Tech Trends in APAC to Watch out for in 2020

In Asia Pacific (APAC), #blockchain was in the top five most used hashtags around banking this year, with respondents in Malaysia being more likely than those in other countries to vote it as the most transformative of 2020, according to a new research paper by Brandwatch, a digital consumer intelligence company.

In a report titled Consumer Trends for 2020: APAC Edition, the company looks at social data and results of a survey of 8,000 people across the world to determine the major consumer trends to watch out for in 2020.

According to the report, blockchain was amongst this year’s top buzzwords on social media platforms. Amongst APAC consumers, Malaysians were found to be the most confident in the technology’s disruptive potential in the banking sector.

Consumer preferences in banking

The research, which analyzes public social media mentions, found that anger and sadness were the most prominent emotions in the conversation, suggesting that there is an opportunity to create better customer experience in the region.

Findings from the survey revealed that globally, security (26%) was the most important factor when choosing which financial services company to use, followed by quality and affordability (both at 14%).

Banking survey results, Consumer Trends for 2020: APAC Edition, Brandwatch

In Malaysia, respondents were most likely to choose “fast customer service” and scored highly for “convenience,” suggesting consumers in the country want to conduct their financial business quickly.

Tech trends to look out for

Besides banking, the paper also looks at consumer preferences in other industries including consumer tech, automotive, entertainment, fashion and hospitality.

In consumer tech, the research found that the future of consumer tech is mobile. Looking at the top objects appearing in consumer tech related images, “mobile phone” was found to be the most prominent.

Smart homes and voice assistants are two other technologies that have risen to prominence in APAC. They have generated 137.3k posts with common hashtags associated with the topic including #IoT (20k), #AI (11k), #BigData (5.1k), and #SmartCity (4.8k).

The survey results found that globally, consumers seemed to care more about “quality” than “affordability” when it comes to consumer tech, suggesting that they are willing to splash the cash on tech they like.

Consumer tech survey, Consumer Trends for 2020: APAC Edition, Brandwatch

Findings also revealed that globally, 5G was perceived as the tech that will have the biggest impact in 2020. Renewable energy is set to be another major trend to watch out for, followed by AI, and self-driving cars.

Asia Partners predictions for Southeast Asia

As the year 2019 comes to an end, companies are rushing to release their predictions for what’s to come in 2020.

In a paper titled Asia Partners 2019 Internet Report: Southeast Asia’s Golden Age, growth equity firm Asia Partners presents what it believes are some of the biggest trends to look out for in the years to come in Southeast Asia’s tech industry.

According to the firm, there will be more than 20 tech unicorns from Southeast Asia by 2029, with at least half of them pursuing initial public offerings (IPOs) over the next decade. 70% of the winners will be regional platforms, and 30% will be Indonesia-based platforms.

Image via Asia Partners 2019 Internet Report: Southeast Asia’s Golden Age, November 2019

Among the key elements driving the region’s booming tech sector, the report cites rapid urbanization, rising disposable income, its young demographic, as well as the spread of and appetite for mobile technology.

Featured image credit: Unsplash