Report
Dec 19, 2024
Canalys outlook: predictions for the technology industry
2024 saw an election supercycle with 46% of the world’s population in more than 60 countries going to the polls. Uncertainty and disruption have become the new normal, with fragile geopolitical situations in many areas of the world. The election cycle has brought renewed concern over tariffs, protectionism and increased focus on data sovereignty. Polls in key economies in each region have either led to new leadership taking charge, weakened power or failure to form majority or even coalition governments. Extreme weather continues to affect every continent, impacting food and water availability alongside supply chain disruptions and people displacement.
IT outages have also come to the forefront, with customer focus increasingly turning to business resilience. The cost of lost operations has shifted investment priorities, with the most cyber-mature organizations making business resilience their primary focus. However, ransomware continues to be the main cause of outages, which will maintain the importance of cybersecurity. Energy security remains a key challenge, as countries review where and how energy is sourced and produced. Economic uncertainty still prevails and the economic recovery is hampered by inflation and interest rate concerns as well as volatility in currency markets. In 2025 GDP is expected to grow at 2.6% globally, while the technology industry will outpace GDP growth at 8.3%.
