globalEDGE Blog - By Author: Mitchell Smith

Everyone has heard off Apple, but there is a new tech giant sweeping the world. Huawei, a Chinese based company has surpassed Apple as the world’s top cellular-equipment maker, and they are only continuing to grow. Huawei is not a popular name because it currently is illegal in multiple countries due to spying and cyber theft accusations, but around the globe, it continues to grow. The problem with Huawei for the U.S. is that no matter what the U.S. does, it will continue to grow.

Global growth shows the rate at which the global economy is either growing or falling. Global growth is important when understanding where the economy of the future is headed. The World Bank just decreased their 2019 expected growth forecast for the second time in the last 6 months. At the beginning of 2018, it was expected that the 2019 global growth was to be 3.1%, then in June, it was reduced to 3.0%. Most recently the projection has been reduced to 2.9%. While 0.2% can seem small, when put in terms of the entire global economy, that small reduction in future growth can have a significant impact on the global economy. The lead forecaster of the World Bank, Ayhan Kose, said the following about global growth, “When you think about the engines of the global economy, they’re all going to lose momentum.” This change is going to affect every major market across the country.

Apple and smartphones will always seem to be connected, almost as Apple is a monopoly for the market. While Apple only holds 17.9% of the smartphone market industry, it is no question that they are the top tier in smartphone manufacturing and production. However, Apple is currently being trialed in a case that claims Apple violated anti-trust laws in affiliation with their app store. Apple controls their app store, the only way to get apps on an iPhone is through Apple’s Appstore. The case, Apple v. Pepper, turns on what happens when iPhone users buy something at the Apple App Store. In allowing the suit, a federal appeals court said the transaction is a simple one in which consumers buy directly from Apple.  According to anti-trust laws, there are statutes developed by the U.S. Government to protect consumers from predatory business practices by ensuring that fair competition exists in an open-market economy. When looking at the definition, we must keep in mind that for Apple to be found liable, there must be clear evidence showing that consumers were harmed in some way. This is where it gets tricky because Apple is such a dominant price chooser for the application industry, that there is no clear idea if they are suppressing consumers or not. Also, it is important to note that Apple has incentives to raising the price of applications, as producers must agree to give 30% of profits in exchange for having permission to sell apps on Apple’s Appstore. While this court case is being decided, it is important to note the impact that this ruling could have on any other competitive monopolistic tech giants such as Facebook, Google, or Amazon.

The world is always looking for the next technological advancement that will bring in money and make everyday life easier. Right now, the fastest startup in the world to reach one billion dollars is Bird rentable scooters. Bird, along with its competitors, Lyme, and Skip, have taken advantage of people's newfound love for easy and fast modes of transportation in crowded cities and around college campuses. This is especially popular with younger people as most of the users are college students or young adults that live and work in cities and have little use for cars. Bird has combined the incredible ability of smartphones with the need for more public transportation and has created apps that allow people to locate scooters everywhere and give them a cheap and easy way to get places quick. This works because of its ubiquitous accessibility. Whenever someone needs one, it is a click away, and when they did, they simply put the kickstand up and continue with their day.

Autonomous transportation is the next big leap for the auto industry. It is universal knowledge that autonomous driving will change transportation drastically, and when enforced, will not only lead to an improvement in transportation, but it will also improve the economy and the environment. The only problem that remains is, who will be the company to perfect autonomous driving.

Jack Ma and Mukesh Ambani are two of the biggest powerhouses in business today, with their net worth being 38.2 billion and 49.2 billion, respectively. But the influence of these two men stretches far beyond their wealth. These businessmen, through exuberant wealth, name recognition, and influence have greatly influenced not only the unities of their countries but also the economies.

Today, the next big advancement for the world just might be the arrival of fifth-generation (5G) wireless network technology. The new 5G technology plans to use higher-frequency spectrum known as millimeter waves, which can carry more data than other types of the spectrum but can’t travel as far or penetrate many hard materials, which means at first, the coverage will only be available in select cities.