12 trends in FunTech (part 2)

Here, we continue our series of articles dedicated to the major trends in FunTech industry - what will determine the way you'll probably have fun in the nearest future.

5. TikTok vs Instagram. Video first? Video only

In 2018 the most expensive non-public tech company in the world was the Chinese ByteDance. They've killed Musical.ly with one ultimate tool - TikTok. TikTok video clips are 9% of the global online time of the Chinese.

There's no need anymore to look for the answer of whether TikTok will kill Facebook. What matters is whether it'll kill Instagram. Decide for yourself.

We're not in video first anymore, we're in video only now. Facebook has long served its foothold purpose and now it's left with agonizing under the pressure of post-truth. Total time of Facebook use has decreased at 50 mln hours daily in 2018. The algorithmic newsfeed is the one to blame.

The new battle in the visual battlefield is looming. ByteDance is another player in M&A market. Now it's devouring its competitors thus pumping the price tag of IT startups.

What awaits us:

• China is catching up not only in AI technologies but also in FunTech
• Instagram will become the new Facebook
• WhatApp is gaining momentum

6. Collective consumption. Together again

2018 has seen the rise (and set?) of HQ Trivia. It has attracted so many nicknames, but the most popular was the "new television". Now, this startup struggles a lot. Its clones also have a hard time growing and gaining popularity in the developed markets. However, the very idea of collective leisure has grown to become a catcher among millennials.

Facebook Watch remains the most prominent pioneer in this field. Its monthly audience (in three months after its kick-off) that spends more than a minute watching videos has already amounted to 400 mln people, daily rate - 75 mln.

What awaits us:

• Facebook Watch
• HQ Trivia 2.0
• VR Chat 2.0

7. Voice assistance

CES in 2018 was a real battlefield of voice assistants. While the participants tried to conceal this type of products under the veil of IoT, Alexa and Alisa still couldn't help but be the center of attention. Voice assistants are everywhere. Alexa is now installed on more than 20 thousand different devices and boasts more than 40 thousand "skills".

But, as always, in China, everything is just bigger. DuerOS by Baidu is installed on more than 100 mln devices. As a cherry on the cake, Google Assistant has 400 mln devices worldwide.

What awaits us:

• Voice assistants on TVs
• Voice in-ups
• Voice assistants in Eduaintment

8. OTT and streaming

People have finally got accustomed to paying for the content delivered to them with OTT. Netflix has tectonically shifted the digital distribution industry by betting on its proprietary content instead of paying tens of millions of Dollars for series like "Friends". And doesn't matter that their base of licensed content will pay back only in 140 years. Stock exchanges today treat Netflix just like they did with Amazon in its depressing period.

Netflix on iOS in 2018 - $790 mln of revenue. Who ranks the second? Tencent Video ($490 mln). However, one shouldn't be tempted to thinking that there's a monopoly in this market segment. Netflix is destined to have a hard time in the future. No matter how many billions they invest now in proprietary content, people are still more keen on watching the "classics" on Netflix. And the creators of those very "classics" are starting to realize that it's more lucrative to publish their content on their own, though their OTT. It's going to be hot in this segment, that's for sure.

What awaits us:

• Hulu will grow
• Apple and Disney will make their own distribution platforms
• ESPN will try not to miss eSports
• Migration of the content to right-owners