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The Impact of Technology Trends on Office Furniture 2000

Of Particular Interest:-

• Trends in Technology - Software, hardware and telecommunications.
• Opportunities and Threats - brought about by technology for Desking, Seating, Storage and Other products.
• Future Prospects - for the development of technology and how it will impact on the market in the short-long term future.
• Market Reaction - to recent technological developments.

Technological developments are one of the primary influencers on the Office Furniture Market and they can accommodation requirements, as well as facilitate changing working practices.

This brand new report provides a brief overview of the market, followed by an examination of the advances in technology which are likely to impact on the sector to a significant degree. The implications of these developments are discussed and future prospects are illustrated from a short term, to a longer term perspective.

Technological Trends covered include:-

Hardware – Including Flat Screen monitors, Electronic Storage, Wireless Applications, Microprocessors, ‘Thin Clients’, Portable/Handheld computers, Cordless Telephones etc.

Software – Operating Systems, Voice Command, User-Computer Interfaces, etc.

Telecommunications – Broadband Telephony, Wireless Protocol, Digital Networks.

Internet – Internet TV, Wireless Internet, Mobile Internet Access etc.

Teleconferencing – Video, Data, Audio, Web.

The report is written by marketing professionals with substantial experience of the office furniture market specifically, and of technological developments and furniture products more generally.

Key areas of coverage in the report include:-

TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS

• Hardware developments, past, present and future for monitors, electronic storage, microprocessors, wireless applications, portable / network computers, digital projectors, cordless telephones. The implications of these developments and how they affect the Office Furniture Market.
• Software Developments, current and future advances and how they could impact on all sectors of the market. Software advances examined include operating systems, voice command and other human-computer interfaces.
• Telecommunication Developments – covering aspects of telephony including broadband, wireless and the integration of data and voice telephony.
• Internet Advances – The impact of the Internet on the sector, also examined is the wireless and mobile Internet with illustrations of future prospects.

MARKET AND PRODUCT REACTION TO TECHNOLOGY

• How technology has affected the market’s approach in the Desking sector.
• Seating market reaction to technology.
• The reaction of Storage suppliers’ to developments in electronic storage and other technology.
• ‘Other’ products suppliers’ reactions to developments in technology.

IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY ON OFFICE FURNITURE

• Opportunities and Threats for the Desking sector in the Office Furniture market.
• Technology based impacts for the Seating sector, with emphasis on technology.
• Opportunities and Threats for Storage, examining Personal, Shared, Archive and General storage.
• Other Products such as screening are also examined for opportunities and threats relevant to the sector.

FUTURE PROSPECTS

• The development of technology in hardware, software, telecommunications, Internet and other areas.
• How technology will progress in 1-3 years and the impact on the Office Furniture market.
• Longer term technological advances - forecast up to 10 years with likely impacts on the sector as a whole.

The report contains over 60 pages of original research and comment on the impact of technology on the Office Furniture Market and provides an independent and incisive view into current and future developments and influences on the market.

The Impact of Technology Trends on Office Furniture 2000

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Tables And Charts

SUMMARY

The Office Furniture market is currently performing reasonably well after a slump in sales in 1999 and is expected to continue to achieve buoyant levels of growth in the short to medium term future. There are several key influences which affect the development of the market and the products supplied within the four main product sectors of desking, seating, storage and other products. Technology is one of the primary motivations for the sector in two separate ways. Firstly, in terms of determining accommodation required for computers etc, and secondly by affecting working practices and organisational behaviour, which is another key influencer of the office furniture market.

Technological advances are fast paced and new technologies are often product rather than market-led. It is therefore important to assess the glut of new technology against the changes and benefits that these technologies will bring for an organisation, in order to design and market successful new office furniture products. In general terms, innovations in office equipment hardware affect the office furniture market directly, whilst advances in software, telecommunications and networking indirectly impact on the office furniture market, by affecting working practices and organisational behaviour. Further information and assessment on how organisational behaviour is influencing the office furniture market can be found in another new report from AMA, "The Impact of Changing Working Practices on the UK Office Furniture Market".

Hardware developments which are recognised to impact on the design and demand of office furniture products have been found to include, advances in monitor manufacturing and sizes, electronic storage, microprocessor manufacturing, network computers or 'thin clients', portable computers and projectors and wireless hardware solutions.

In terms of developments in software, operating systems, computer telephony integration, voice command, user-computer interfaces and other communications products have been found to, either directly or indirectly, affect the office furniture market.

The Internet and wireless devices are also indicated to be primary drivers in this sector. Applications which enable connection to the Internet and e-mail at home are also suggested as future key market influences, as demand for desktop PCs is forecast to show signs of slowing, in favour of cheaper, more user-friendly and more flexible devices in domestic environments.

Office furniture products increasingly need to be able to adapt to technology and offer features which meet the demands of organisations with varying degrees of involvement with technology. Flexibility and versatility are key design elements in many product offerings now available. In addition the ability for suppliers to offer 'turn-key' solutions and offer a flexible approach to office furniture solutions, has resulted in increased opportunities for service and product differentiation. With increasingly innovative products being designed to meet the changing demands brought about by technology. The traditional definitions of office furniture products are beginning to change.

The changing nature of technology and the implications for business and organisational working practices is likely to mean that applications for furniture become more specific, with the growth of a wide range of niche sectors, each with specific furniture requirements. To some extent this is already happening with the growth of call centres.

Moore's law states that computer processor power will double every 18 months and this theory has thus far been proved correct since the development of 'dumb terminals' by IBM 2 decades ago. However, this phenomenal rate of development is generally forecast to slow as manufacturers reach the physical limits of materials used in microchips within the next 10 years. Manufacturers are therefore looking to other forms of computing and other options to satisfy the need to input, process and retrieve information quickly.

Within the next 10 years, methods for inputting, processing, storing and retrieving data will change dramatically and, given the take-up of this technology by organisations, the impact on the office furniture market will be significant. As the UK economy continues towards the service-orientated sector, the processing and communication of information will certainly remain an important aspect of many companies' efficient business strategy, hence office furniture suppliers must remain informed in order to offer products to satisfy these needs.

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