Igniting Growth in Consumer Technology The consumer technology industry’s decade of unprecedented growth is coming to an end as the smartphone market hits maturity. The 2016 Accenture Digital Consumer Survey for communications, media and technology companies polled 28,000 consumers in 28 countries on their use of consumer technology. The research indicates that consumer demand is sluggish across a number of categories from smartphones to tablets and laptops. And unfortunately, demand for the next generation of devices enabled by the Internet of Things (IoT) is not growing fast enough to offset declines in traditional categories. Price, security and ease of use remain barriers to adoption of IoT devices and services. For the majority of consumers, the lack of a compelling value proposition is reflected in concern over pricing. Security is no longer just a nagging problem, but a top barrier as consumers choose to abandon products and services over security concerns. And, while progress has been made, challenges with ease of use and customer experience remain roadblocks. However, it’s not all gloom and doom. Growth in new categories will happen—and when it does, it can happen very quickly—but the industry needs to move NOW to drive its next phase of growth. The winners will be those who can work with their ecosystem partners to push disruptive innovation by connecting humans with technology in ways that meet their most fundamental needs.