Many
investors are looking for the next big technology company like Apple, Google or
ARM. However it is hard to know where to start.
Most of the companies that have risen to the top started from a very low
price and took years to develop and evolve into the companies they are
today. So what will be next big thing?
Energy has
been and will continue to be major driver in the world. Oil and Gas rule currently, however as the
world demands cleaner and more efficient energy, we seek the next step forward. Within many products, portable power sources
(batteries) play an important role and as other areas of technology develops,
be it microchips or processors, the power source will be the key to whether
things can develop further. Phones have
been gradually increasing in size over the past few years, from small flip
phones through to 5 inch touch screen phones.
The new Samsung Galaxy S4 can last about day during heavy use, but this
phone has one of the biggest batteries for a phone to date. The faster processors require more power, but
now things have come to a head.
At the
moment most small devices such as smart phones and mp3 players use Lithium Ion
batteries, however these have reached the optimum capacity. Graphite is used to store the lithium ions in
the anode of the battery, however since reaching capacity you are limited to
the power output. Whilst increasing size
will increase the total number of ions, a sacrifice will have to be made for
weight and size of the products. This is
clearly not a solution, however a vast sum of money has been put into researching
alternative storage materials for the lithium ions. Currently, Silicon is leading the way as it
offers the best prospect for ion storage.
But with a number of issues surrounding charging the silicon based
battery, composites will have to be developed.
The hopeful result would be between a 30-50% increase in battery life to
the current ones, offering a significant boost in processor development.
Whilst we
are still some time off having the finalized product available, technology
continues to be a fundamental driver in the evolution of mankind, and funds
investing in this can offer long term prospect for returns.
Whilst a
lot of the technologies for new battery sources are in development stage, tech
funds cover a broad range of companies.
Newly floated companies or those that develop this technology will
attract huge demand and be sure to be a quick inclusion in technology funds.
Those
investing in technology funds or specific companies would have had a fairly
poor couple of months. Whilst some of
the big names, Apple have sold off on slowing growth concerns it presents an
excellent buying in opportunity for the long haul. AXA Framlington Global Tech fund has great spread of companies and would be sure
to capture fundamental technological developments over the long term.
