11 Stories And Trends That Dominated Tech In 2016
Time to take a look back at what has been an extremely interesting 2016…
BT/Openreach dispute
Believe us when we say this one will go on well into 2017. Earlier this year, Ofcom published the initial findings of its once-in-a-decade review of the UK communications market and told BT to get its house in order or face being stripped of Openreach.
BT says Openreach benefits from its capital and R&D, while rivals say it gives the former state monopoly an unfair advantage and has resulted in a lack of investment in broadband infrastructure.
The regulator has effectively given BT a final warning in a bid to make Openreach more independent so we shall see what 2017 has in store.
Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Recall
It’s difficult to recall anything like it. Samsung seemed to have gained the upper hand over arch rival Apple by pre-empting the launch of the iPhone 7 with the Galaxy Note 7 and the initial critical reaction hailed it as one of the greatest Android handsets ever released.
Silicon hailed the Korean manufacturer as the smartphone industry’s great innovator. Then it went spectacularly wrong. Reports emerged that Galaxy Note 7 units were exploding due to dodgy batteries.
Attempts to limit the scale of the problem and the potential risk failed and Samsung ended up recalling all Galaxy Note 7 devices worldwide and ceased production. It has been suggested the debacle cost Samsung up to $17 billion in lost revenue but the damage to its reputation could be much, much greater.
