What 2012 has in Store for Us

Major  Events

•   London 2012 Olympic  Games- - July 27

      

•        India to host fourth BRIC summit in March ,2012.    

•   The first Winter Youth Olympics will be held in Innsbruck, Austria – January 13 – January 22.

•        The 2012 World Expo is to be held in Yeosu , South Korea – May 12 – August  12.

•        China to have world’s fastest train by 2012.

•     United States presidential election, to be held on , November 6, 2012.

•  The first quad-core smartphones will be available .

Diplomacy & Politics 

•         US diplomacy  will continue to frustrate China ‘s assertiveness  & hegemony in Asia  by building & strengthening its  Naval & Airbases in Japan ,Taiwan & Australia  & protecting its information networks  from perpetual Chinese hacking attacks   shifting its focus from war –torn & politically repressed  countries of  Middle East .We can expect a  Cyber war between ailing superpower (USA) & rising superpower(China).

•      India will try to proactively resolve its territorial &  cross border terrorism related issues with China & Pakistan .

•       Pakistan will become more isolated in the global community with (perhaps) China playing a greater diplomatic role who Islamabad. Pakistani Military  will try to wrest away power  from Civilian Governments.

·        Sectarian violence will continue to plague  Iraq as the Sunni Muslim minority seeks greater rights from the Shia-majority government and cabinet, without the presence of U.S. troops.

•        Woman diplomats will rule the roost in 2012.

•   Iran could have nuclear weapons by 2012 ,destabilizing & creating political & economic tensions in  Middle East again this year .

Economy 

•     World economy will grow at a snail’s pace with dismal performances in Europe , but emerging markets and the United States should at least keep the world economy moving in the right direction.

•      Europe faces another year of  stagnation &  grim economic outlook in 2012 that will weigh on global growth.Greece may be the first nation to exit Euro Zone.

•        Indian economy  will grow faster than Chinese in 2012 at 8.7% to China’s 8.4%.

•        The U.S. economy will grow faster in 2012 at  2.4 percent from less than 2 percent in 2011 reinforcing investors confidence in World stock markets.

•       China’s economy will slow down, reflecting the grim global climate, as well as the ever-weakening domestic property market and prospects for declining exports.In  the silver lining ,China will open up & ease its restriction in its  capital markets  to foreign investors & Yuan (Chinese currency) will challenge the primacy of US dollar in foreign exchange market.

•    Japan will recover & rebuild its economy  aided by continued reconstruction spending in the Tohoku region, ( Tsunami & Earthquake struck region) &  aided by higher exports  to grow at 2.2% in 2012 after contracting 0.2% this year .

•       Russia, faces  high inflationary risks and growing discontent with Vladimir Putin’s heavy-handed rule, will likely endure a turbulent year in 2012

Technology 

•                Year of Digital Convergence which will integrate the present array of medias & platforms and  Television will become  the new center of gravity in Tech Universe. Eg- Apple TV latest entrant in this segement ,Improved Google  TV 2.0 ,Samsung Smart TV's etc. 

•       Google+ fails as a social network
  
  
  ·        Market shrinks & new survival strategies unveiled by  RIM & Nokia .
  
  
  ·        Amazon.com  to become market leader in  e-readers, online streaming, grocery deliveries, etc.
  
  
  
  ·        Android vs. iOS  2012 – Clash of the Titans .
  
  
  ·        Applications will move to cloud  & companies will start revamping its IT infrastructure for cloud computing.
  
  
  
  
  ·        Tablets will take market by storm & will emerge as the most dominant mobile computing device.

           E-Commerce & Branding 

Brands will enable eCommerce on their own websites in new markets and launch online stores on marketplaces in multiple countries. Eg-  Amazon preparing to enter India. Or Brazil.

Next Year we can expect the Ecommerce organizations & Global brands cover  the World with localized offerings :

•        More brands will sell direct in international markets - An increasing number will look to extend their reach online globally, with brands expanding beyond French-, German- and English-language eCommerce sites in Europe, and increasingly enabling transactional sites in Asian markets such as Korea China & India.

•         International shippers will focus on consumers in specific markets  .

•        eCommerce companies’ “Tier 1” markets will include multiple emerging markets.    

 

•   BRIC will still be the acronym, but CBIR will be the order – China  will be the highest priority by marketeer.

    

•       Mobile enabled E-commerce will grow & flourish rapidly.