Technology stocks and growing markets 

Analysts are bearish about Apple in 2019 and they expect the price to average at $215 per share. Qualcomm license lawsuit and trade worries may cause a downside by 25 per cent.  It can start a rare buying opportunity in the year or next, where the market response may remain volatile after the introduction of 5G handsets. Most Apple watchers are bullish. 

Zacks.com supported tech stocks Garmin Ltd., Qualcomm and TiVo as dividend-yielding stocks for the year. Warren Buffet has been avoiding technology stocks for years but now every boom is led by technology stocks and he owns many tech stocks. Currently, the top companies in terms of market capitalization are Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet.  

Upcoming technological developments 

This year Chinese technology stocks continue to see upward trends such as Alibaba, Momo and Sina, and a content management system was launched by the company BundlAR for augmented reality where the system can be plugged into event mobile apps through API and can be used as exhibitors without Wi – Fi connection that can showcase products virtually. AR companies are working towards addressing practical issues of technology in the year. Recently, behavior tracking solutions have been designed where 3D light will be able to monitor behavior of people during events and classify objects accordingly. 

TripActions and TravelPerk can provide in-house travel management platforms to track expenses. 

The new mobile phones will have compact cameras, expensive digital SLRs, dual/ triple/ quadruple cameras with improved portraits, where the cameras will come with competitive differentiation. Blockchain should become safer and user-friendly, and be supported by voice control and innovative technologies to transform the ways of handling finance, real estate and supply chains. 

5G technologies with deliver faster data and drive the price of phones/ smart devices where the top end market, currently, dominated by Apple iPhone and Samasung Galaxy series shares are expected to grow.  Some companies may offer phones supported by a range of latest features, made up of premium material, foldable devices and these may be introduced in the ultra premium segment in the range £2,000,  or above. Folding phones attracts buyers but such phones have poor readability and a bulky design. 

Growth in health tech sector will be seen where new wearables to track blood pressure will be introduced. Research in brain mapping, neurological capabilities and brain related diseases will be promoted. In 2018, Apple Watch was introduced with electrocardiograms monitors that could monitor heart rhythms and irregularities such as arrhythmia. 

Data governance, privacy and security risks are major concerns in the technology sector. Any organization has a set size of bandwidth to spend on cloud infrastructure – the area where most corporate institutions shift their workloads. There are many types of cloud infrastructures - public, private and hybrid systems. New privacy regulations will require companies to adopt safer modes of storing user data and also offer provisions to destroy data on request. E.g. there is a need to identify unethical political videos/ content, and eliminate it from internet.