The digital transformation of our economy is now complete, the pandemic drove online engagement to the top of the corporate funnel for all companies. Schools are the best example of this digital transformation as online learning became the staple in both post-secondary and K-12 institutions. A zoom meeting became the new norm.

As we move slowly back to life as normal as possible, we are still facing the inflationary after effects of supply shortages as production ramps up again. Cars for example have gone up 30% during this period. I would not want to buy a car now. During this time there has been a leap in processing power of personal computers.
I have been doing a gig as an HP Brand Ambassador in a Best Buy store (this is my version of going undercover) and this has allowed me a front line perspective of the changes in technology and I get to chat with some of the tech wizards at Best Buy.

Left to right- Jihan Alani, Martin Seto, Maddie Sato and Aitken Kay

We are at the beginning of a 5G World - The World of Super fast Computing and Internet
This is what I have learned the latest computer chips are experiencing Moore’s Law of processing, where it will double every two years. This is happening now in the I7 chips from Intel and AMD’s Ryzen 7 that enable 5 Ghz CPU processing speed, which borders on super computer fast according to press releases. Previous generation chips (I5, I3) offer speeds in the 2-2.5GHZ range. 

“Moore's law is a term used to refer to the observation made by Gordon Moore (Founder of Intel) in 1965 that the number of transistors in a dense integrated circuit (IC) doubles about every two years.”

Other changes in technology is that Bluetooth technologies now allow multiple devices to be connected at once as it can connect multiple headphones to listen together for example. All printers today are all wifi enabled and the cost of laser printers is at an all-time low as some are now cheaper than ink-jet. Ink-jet printers now have a refillable ink tank option so you don’t have to pay a lot for ink anymore.
Apple not to be out done has released the M1 Chip in their lineup that offers superior speed too. While Apple does not publicly release CPU speeds the latest chip is rated at 3.6Ghz speeds, which is snap at your finger speed btw. If you are gamer/graphic designer a CPU speed of 3Ghz or higher is ideal to give you an idea how fast these speeds are.

HP Spectra 2-1 Laptop

What is emerging in the latest generation of Windows laptops are 2 in1 versions that have a touchscreen as part of its configuration. The HP Spectra 2-1 Laptop, has 5 GHz CPU speed using the Intel I7 chip, it comes with 16GB ram, ITB storage and Nividia Graphics card. This is the TOP of the line laptop computer and retails for $2,229. It also comes with a backlight and very responsive keyboard for those speed typers. Windows 11 going foward will need 16GB of ram to operate fast as it take up to 5GB of ram.

The digital ecosystem in Canada primarily consists of Apple, Google/Android, Microsoft and Facebook. I pulled some stats off the internet to get a snapshot of the size digital ecosystem and to see how they are all interconnected.

• Canada’s Population 38.1 million
• 33 million mobile subscribers (86% of pop)
• Social media users 33.3 million
• 10.5 million households (94% with cable internet)

Canada is about fully connected to the internet as it going to get, we just need everybody’s grandma now to get a computer, but they already have a tablet and smartphone in most cases. LOL

Mobile Vendor Market Share

Apple: 57% Android 43% - Samsung 29%, Google 3%, LG 2%, Huawei 2%, Motorola 2%

This is not surprising this ecosystem is dominated by two players Apple and Android Devices. Expect this to be a two horse race going forward, but with changes in the mix from Android vendors.

Desktop OS Market Share

Windows OS 68%, Mac 24%, Chrome 4%, Linux 2%

This is no surprise, but Apple’s almost 25% share in Canada suggests Apple is very popular as Apple as only a 7.6% share of global computer shipments. The Chrome OS is used in Chromebooks.

Global Market Share of Computers 2021

Windows: Lenovo 24.7%, HP 21.8%, Dell 17.6%, Acer 7.2%, Asus 6.4%, Apple 7.6%

Windows machines still dominate computer shipments worldwide and this will not will change anytime soon. (Note all Windows vendors provide chromebooks)

HP Chromebase 21.5" All in One Desktop

What is a Chromebook? This is the Chromebase 21.5” desktop version of the Chromebook from HP, it is the sexiest machine on the sales floor. It has a rotating touch screen so you can go vertical (90 degreee rotation). Chromebooks are a web/cloud computer as everything is done through the chrome browser, there is no internal storage. The laptop versions are $200- $500 in price so are very affordable for schools, who use Google Classroom. The desktop version goes for $800. It looks like Google is playing the long game with this machine.

Browser Market Share 

Chrome 50.6%, Safari 31.2%, Other: Edge 6.9% Firefox 5.12% Samsung Internet 3.3% Android .42%

This is very interesting stat to look at as Windows has a 68% OS share but Chrome is #1 in how people access the internet then Apple in second and Edge a distant third.
As you can see the digital ecosystem is very much interconnected. For office productivity software it is a two horse race between Microsoft Office 48% share and Google Office 45% (Global) so this interconnection goes deeper in the digital ecosystem.

Social Media Apps

Facebook 76.9%, Instagram 58.2%, Twitter 36.8%, Pinterest 34.5%, Tik To 32.2%, Linkedin 31.4%, Reddit, 26.7%, Skype 19.8%, Tumblr 7.5%

Messaging Apps

FP Messenger 64.4%, Whatsapp 38.5%, I Message 38.2%, Snapchat 30.3%, Discord 15.1%, Telegram 8.2%

Social Media and Messaging apps are very turbulent ecosystems as changes happen frequently to the players. Tik Tok for example has become a dominant player. Same can be said for WhatsApp.

 
As you can see the digital ecosystem in Canada is controlled by a handful of players which means money is leaving the publishing industry in Canada in the form of advertising revenue, control over audiences and audience destinations.
The free to pay crusade for digital subs is a starting part, but there is too much free content out there to be successful except for a handful of brands perhaps like the Globe and Mail. For example the CBC and CTV news will alway be free online. Governments are now trying to fix this problem through regulation, taxation and fines, but are slow to act for some reason unless we shout out loud.
 

We will be publishing a series of posts on the various digital ecosystems from Apple, Google/Android, Windows and Facebook that are part of the State of Digital postings for the 2022 COPAS.
Sources: gs.statcounter.com Statcounter Global Stats - April 2022, Stats Canada, Wikipedia, Statista, Global Statistics