Deloitte's Technology, Media and Telecommunications Predictions for 2013

Deloitte (News - Alert) Touche Tohmatsu Limited, the second-largest professional services network worldwide, recently released its Technology, Media and Telecommunications Predictions report for 2013.

For the past 10 years, Deloitte's predictions have become one of the most important sources of market intelligence, and are very reliable in foreseeing changes in technology, media or telecommunications trends.

According to this report, "Deloitte predicts more than 90 percent of user-generated passwords will be vulnerable to hacking in a matter of seconds." Supplementary types of authentication will be needed, such as additional authenticating devices, services that provide a password by SMS to your mobile phone, fingerprint readers, or tap-and-go credit cards.

Another prediction is that smartphone shipments worldwide will exceed one billion devices, and the smartphone user base will reach the two billion mark by the end of 2013. LTE (News - Alert) usage will also increase, exceeding 200 million users.

The mobile advertising sector will see a 50-percent increase as well, reaching $9 billion worldwide.

This increase in mobile telecommunications usage will yield a crowded wireless spectrum that will generate dropped calls and slow Internet speeds.

Other predictions for 2013 state that most households will continue to remain subscribed to TV operators, contrary to rumors saying that TV subscriptions are on a decline. However, an increasing number of younger people creating new households will not subscribe to a TV operator. Two over-the-top TV program and movie services out of the top three will probably be made available by current broadcasters and distributors.

Also, 4K TV sets will become available, offering a resolution four times greater than current high-definition TV sets. Unfortunately, there won't be any 4K programming available in 2013.

The last prediction involving TVs mentions the Smart TV, whose sales will exceed 100 million units.

One of the predictions shows that rumors about the decrease in PC usage are greatly exaggerated. PC sales have continued to increase, and over 80 percent of all Internet traffic will be generated by PCs.

Deloitte's other predictions for 2013 mention crowd funding portals, which will gather $9 billion worldwide, and a 70-percent increase in the use of Enterprise Social Networks (ESN) by Fortune 500 companies.

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