In recent years, several well-known newspapers and multimedia have rumored about the 12 emerging disruptive technologies that promise to transform the present market. Among them, the Internet of Things arises to be the most probable for such deed.
To begin with, how do we define a disruptive innovation? There is no such exact definition, but the concept can be characterized as:
- Initially address a small market
- Somehow seems inferior to the incumbents
- Target large but moderate-to-low-growth segments
- Look for sizeable customer populations unattractive to incumbents
- Compete against non-consumption and non-existing market
First off, the Internet of Things addresses a small market. To be exact, it can choose to either develop on the mass scale by targeting the manufacturing and industrial development or on the small scale by applying remote control via sensors and the network connectivity in residential homes or small businesses. Other inventions in the list, on the contrary, aim to attack bigger market or segments that have been under the R&D of many sizable firms.
Another advantage of the small scale development of the IoT is its seemingly humble goals. Indeed, applying IoT on the parameters of residential homes and small business models will head towards more efficient use of natural resources as well as greater flexibility for homeowners. These purposes are quite inferior when compared to the goals of other innovations in the lists, such as automation in knowledge work, autonomous vehicles, advanced robotics, or next generation genomics. However, when we investigate the IoT more carefully, its potential customer population is huge. These are people who in particular are not interested in the great ideas (mentioned above) or just simply cannot afford them.
In addition, the IoT might trigger a large and dramatic growth by targeting this homeowner-and-small-business related segment. Customers in this segments are usually not a fan of other great inventions in the list. Even if there are, these cases are often subject-specific (e.g sickness, diseases that require remote health control or disabilities that need autonomous vehicles and robotics part to move). They are, however, often excited by the idea of better controlling their homes or personal business, and that’s why the IoT is very likely to stimulate a big jump in this market.
http://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/business-technology/our-insights/disruptive-technologies
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