Thematic Reads: Week of August 26, 2019
Each week Team Tematica consumes a voracious amount of content as we look to stay on top of the latest data and mine it for tailwind and headwind signals for our 10 investment themes.
Aging of the Population
The global demographic shift towards a more senior population
- Older People Need Rides. Why Aren’t They Using Uber and Lyft? (The New York Times)
- Expert: Fintechs miss chance to help boomers secure income (Forbes)
- Baby Boomers Are Leaving Behind a Trail of Luxury Ranches (WSJ)
- The Hidden Retirement Crisis: Older Americans’ Debt (Next Avenue)
- Amazon Alexa will soon help people check in on aging relatives, with new skill from State Farm (CNBC.com)
Cleaner Living
Growing demand for items that claim to be better for you and the planet:
- Coke Putting Dasani Water in Cans Amid Backlash Against Plastic (Bloomberg)
- The Hershey Company invests in Irish protein bar maker Fulfil (FoodBev Media)
- NextEra unit plans 100% renewables for Texas ratepayers (nawindpower.com)
- Non-Dairy Milk Alternatives Are Experiencing A ‘Holy Cow!’ Moment (Forbes)
- Travelers headed to SFO need to find another way to hydrate. Plastic water bottles are no longer being sold (KTVU.com)
- Wind power prices now lower than the cost of natural gas (ARS Technical’s)
- Ocean Spray On Its New Brand Strategy To Scale Health-Forward, Sustainability-Focused Food (PSFK)
Digital Infrastructure
The Buildout and upgrading of our Networks, Data Storage Facilities and Equipment
- Worldwide 5G network infrastructure revenues to reach US$4.2 billion in 2020 (Digitimes)
- NVIDIA readies for battle in the datacenter in 2020 (TheNextPlatform)
Disruptive Innovators
Business models designed to transform an entire industry and leap-frog over incumbents.
- Cisco CIO Says Shift to Cloud Will Cut Energy Use, Costs (The Wall Street Journal)
- Airbus Harnessing AI in Bid to Save Millions on Finance Tasks (The Wall Street Journal)
- Air Force moving toward 3D printed aircraft parts (Air Force Magazine)
- VR could be the most powerful teaching tool since the PC (Wired)
Digital Lifestyle
The increasingly digital landscape that now underpins the entire consumer experience.
- Apple TV Plus will reportedly cost $9.99 per month and launch in November (The Verge)
- Apple splashes $6bn on new shows in streaming wars (FT)
- WhatsApp Payments Eyes Indonesia Expansion (PYMTNS)
- In China, Digital Will Reach Three-Quarters of Total Ad Spending by 2021 (eMarketer)
The products and services people will consume no matter the economic environment.
- Amazon is looking to open a brick-and-mortar liquor store in San Francisco (Business Insider)
- First restaurant with cannabis on the menu to open in September (Restaurant Hospitality)
Those things that bridge the gap between want and ability at every socioeconomic level.
Consumers trading down when and where possible or looking to stretch the disposable dollars they do have.
- He’s 26 years old but still sees a pediatrician: Why some young adults don’t move on (The Washington Post)
- Families Go Deep in Debt to Stay in the Middle Class (WSJ)
Areas around the world where rising disposable incomes are driving demand for a host of products and services.
- Global Infant Formula Market Report: Insights, Trends & Forecasts (Research and Markets)
- Bolstering Global Agricultural Production to Feed Ten Billion People (AGWeb)
- Moët Hennessy teams with Tmall to build Chinese awareness (Luxury Daily)
Reflecting the evolving needs across individual, cyber, corporate and homeland security.
- Wis. police department substitutes smartphones for bodycams (RCR Wireless News)
- Visa rolls out payment security service (Infosecurity-UK)
- Shopify calls for more control over user data (Modern Retail)
- Consumers Want Sharing Economy Platforms To Verify Their Identity (PYMNTS)
- Facebook’s tool that lets people delete their browsing history falls short of promise (CNBC)
- Alarm in Texas as 23 towns hit by ‘coordinated’ ransomware attack (CNBC)
- EU plans sweeping regulation of facial recognition (FT)
- Google Counters Apple, Firefox With a Plan for Online Privacy (Bloomberg)
