Deloitte has shared Infotech (IT) industry predictions for 2016.
Deloitte says 80 of 100 biggest software companies will have integrated cognitive technologies, such as machine learning, natural language processing, or speech recognition, into their products.
The growth will be 25 percent as compared with 2015 when 64 of 100 companies offered cognitive technologies.
Machine learning is likely to be the most prevalent of all cognitive computing technologies, given the breadth of its applications such as classification, anomaly detection, personalization and fraud detection, said Deloitte.
Natural language processing (NLP) will also provide valuable applications in software, dealing with unstructured text, while speech recognition will grow in use for applications that may benefit from hands-free modes of operations.
Two and a half billion virtual reality headsets and 10 million game copies are expected to be sold this year.
Virtual reality will have its first billion dollar year in 2016, with about $700 million in hardware sales, and the remainder from content. The industry is estimated to sell about 2.5 billion VR headsets and 10 million game copies.
Number of women in IT is expected to remain flat. By the end of 2016 fewer than 25 percent of IT jobs in developed countries will be held by women. This figure is about the same as 2015, and may even be down.
In 2016, 2.5 trillion photos will be shared or stored online, a 15 percent increase over 2015. Over 90 percent of these photos will have been taken over a smartphone: Digital SLRs, compact cameras, tablets and laptops will collectively contribute the remainder. This estimate does not include the trillions of photos that remain on devices’ memories.
In 2016 smartphone and tablet will become the leading games platform by software revenue, generating $35 billion in revenue, up 20 percent from 2015. This compares to $32 billion for PC games and $28 billion for console games, up only 5 and 6 percent respectively from the previous year. However, average revenue per game by platform will vary significantly.
