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Research
UNPRECEDENTED OPPORTUNITIES
With the massive network capacity of 5G – connecting around one million devices per square kilometre – the IoT universe of applications, sensors and devices will present unprecedented manufacturing and business opportunities.
Benefits include increased efficiency and productivity, improved customer service and as yet undreamt of services, as well as lower costs. It will also herald a new era for the cloud through edge computing solutions.
With cybersecurity a considerable concern for many businesses, an additional advantage of 5G lies in its network slicing capabilities and its ability to enable employees to connect to their company’s private wireless network.
Ultimately, the upgraded mobile standard will aid hybrid working, untethering employees from a wifi router or fixed line. Users will enjoy superfast data transfer speeds and the ability to use several bandwidth-intensive applications at the same time on 5G-enabled devices, even in crowded spaces.
In its Preliminary Global Notebook PC Shipments and Market Share: Q3 2021 Results, Strategy Analytics expects sales of 5G-enabled notebook PCs to reach 14.3 million by 2025, representing 69% of the market.
Meanwhile, extended reality (XR) – incorporating virtual and augmented reality – could become very relevant for hybrid working, and be adapted for remote training, holographic conference calls and virtual sales showrooms, for example.
Indeed, the power of 5G is almost certain to be realised by remote workers first, especially if XR takes off rapidly as a viable collaborative tool for connecting work colleagues through immersive experiences, wherever they are.
GET READY
5G has the ability to impact just about everything: from the way we communicate and the introduction of entire new ranges of devices that run the workplace securely, to the products used to carry out our work, and even the design and fitout of the office environment as it becomes wireless.
Having said all this, while hailed as revolutionary, the rollout of the mobile network globally is still very much in its infancy. 5G will likely be utilised incrementally in the workplace as it becomes smarter and more connected through IoT.
Preparation is key. Getting ready for 5G now should provide those fast on the uptake with the first-mover advantage.
If you’re in any doubt about the impact it will have, remember it was only in late 2009 that 4G introduced the world to mobile broadband and provided the platform for m-commerce, Uber, FaceTime, Deliveroo, Instagram, TikTok, Netflix, etc. You get the picture.
The potential of 5G represents a leap far beyond this, helping to usher in the fourth industrial revolution where the possibilities are limitless. Edge computing: As the name suggests, edge computing means cloud applications and services being moved to the edge of a network, ie carried out at or very near to where the source of the data is being generated or consumed. This reduces latency, resulting in a better user experience.
Extended Reality: Extended Reality (XR) is a blanket term encompassing augmented (AR), virtual (VR) and mixed reality (MR) immersive technologies that blend real and virtual environments.
High-band network or millimeter wave (mmWave): The ultra-fast option associated with 5G (above 1 Gbps) is currently available in limited countries, but includes the US, China, Japan and South Korea. This spectrum offers plenty of bandwidth and operates above 26 GHz. The trade-off is its unreliability over long distances, and the signal can be interrupted by obstacles or walls.
Low-band network: Operates below 1 GHz and is traditionally used by mobile networks, broadcast TV and radio. Signals cover large distances and travel through walls, but the spectrum is crowded and offers comparatively lower speeds of up to 250 Mbps.
Mid-band network: This network covers the wireless (wifi, mobile, Bluetooth, etc) spectrum between 1 GHz to 6 GHz. Signals can achieve speeds of up to 1 Gbps with a wide geographic reach.
Network slicing: One huge benefit of 5G is network slicing, or the ability to create virtual networks on-demand over a shared network. It enables a mobile operator to reserve part of its network for a customer’s application, service or device with tailored performance and security functionalities.
OpenRAN or O-RAN: RAN stands for Radio Access Network and connects devices to the network through radio connections. OpenRAN refers to the creation of industrywide open standards that support interoperability between vendors’ equipment. The standards would also be open to software developers.
Wifi 6: The next generation wifi is known as wifi 6. While it does offer a speed boost – potentially up to 9.6 Gbps – the more important aspect is that it improves overall wireless performance in terms of connectivity and efficiency, which is especially vital as more devices are added to the network.
STATE OF THE INDUSTRY PREVIEW
The global business products (BP) industry this side of the COVID-19 pandemic is looking very different to the one that went into it. Amazon now typically accounts for at least a quarter of manufacturers’ sales and it’s a percentage which is rising rapidly.
For resellers in our sector, the prime focus now is to maximise the opportunities and minimise the risks. But there are things they need to know to allow them to do this effectively:
• What is the current market penetration of Amazon and Amazon Business, and what can resellers still do to respond to this giant? • Which new product areas have emerged as real opportunities? • Which new channels/distributors offer potential? • How important are online marketplaces/platforms and what are the key players at present? • How have the changes in ownership in 2021 of the former big boxes affected the market and what type of operator (if any) is now in the best position to service the corporate sector? • What will be the effect on industry players of the ending of government support schemes for businesses initiated during the pandemic (eg the
UK’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and the
Employer Retention Tax Credit in the US)? • Which factors (raw materials, labour, logistics, fuel) will represent the greatest inflationary threat for businesses in 2022 and what responses are planned to adapt to this?
ASKING THE EXPERTS
All of the above questions demand reliable answers from trusted sources. The State of the BP Industry 2021-2022, the ninth edition of Martin Wilde Associates (MWA) and OPI’s annual research study, does just that. It offers insight by asking some of the sharpest minds in the industry – the senior executives running the major BP companies globally – these and many other vital questions.
Based on in-depth and online interviews with these executives in Australia, Benelux, Canada, France, Germany, the UK and the US, the survey will also focus on the crucial KPIs that the COVID crisis has been affecting.
What, for example, were respondents’ overall revenue and margin trends in 2021 and, going forward, what are the expectations for 2022? What share of distributors’ sales were accounted for by jan/san supplies, breakroom/catering products, workwear/PPE and MPS in the same period?
What share of resellers’ sales were via the web in 2021 and how will this percentage evolve in 2022? And what about resellers’ average order values – how have they been and will continue to be impacted? Finally, what was the value of the core office products market in 2021; what will it be in 2022 and where are the growth trends?
INVALUABLE RESOURCE
The study will report on respondents’ perceptions of the main growth – as well as declining – product categories and channels in 2021 and 2022. It will further detail the 2021 financial performance of the key 15 distributors in our sector in the US, Europe and Australia.
Research for this study, which will be invaluable to the future business strategy of the BP industry’s main protagonists, commences in January 2022, with the report being published in April this year.
