10 Tech Trends to Watch in 2021

AUSTIN, Texas - March 4, 2021 - PRLog -- Looking for insight into technology trends for 2021?

Here are the top 10 emerging trends that will drive change in the tech market this year and beyond.

1. Today's Chip-Pocalypse And The Coming Electric Car Crash

The start of 2021 was marked by widespread manufacturing shutdowns—not caused by coronavirus outbreaks in factories— but a crippling shortage of computer chips that find their way into everyday consumer products, ranging from phones to computers, to new cars and trucks. Bloomberg estimates that the auto industry may lose over $61 billion in sales during 2021 due to these acute chip shortages. Explanations for the shortfall vary, but analysts point to Huawei stockpiling chips throughout 2020 (in advance of a US export ban) as well as extraordinary demand for high-performance chips from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC).

Today's microprocessor chip shortages could mark the beginning of more serious component and raw material shortages as car and truck manufacturers undertake a massive transformation from ICE motors to electric propulsion systems.

Efficient batteries and electric motors rely on rare earth metals such as lithium and other materials that are in short supply, especially outside of China, which has invested heavily in rare earth mining.

The result may throw a wrench into the Biden administration's favored plan (inspired by a whitepaper written by the UAW) to promote EVs as a way to boost the economy with green jobs. It may also mean that major companies will face difficulties meeting their goals of switching over to 100% EV production (GM by 2035, Ford by 2030).

2. Solid State Batteries, Wooden Skyscrapers, And Lab-Grown Chicken Nuggets: Ideas That Could Save The Planet

Climate change has been on everyone's mind as a polar vortex swept south this month and brought the Texas electrical grid down to its knees, leaving millions (including most of us at Formaspace) without power or even access to water for several days.

Our second tech trend is a renewed focus on climate change resiliency and the adoption of new technologies that can reduce harmful carbon pollution into the atmosphere.

As Bill Gates writes in his new book, "How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need," there are five areas he believes we need to focus on:

1. Reducing the 51 billion tons of greenhouse gases emitted each year.
2. Manufacturing, especially cement and steel production, amounts to the biggest chunk (31%) of greenhouse emissions, bigger than transportation by car, truck, or plane.

Read more...https://formaspace.com/articles/tech-lab/10-tech-trends-t...