You have to sell the entire experience, the entire ecosystem.

London, United Kingdom (AFP) — In 2020, will the wow factor return to consumer hardware? Will blockchain and 5G punch into the mainstream? Or will the world unify against Big Tech’s privacy-busting, tax-avoiding practices?

AFP looks at five themes shaping the world of technology after a year in which the public’s mood towards the industry grew more distrustful.

Super-fast fifth-generation network speeds are meant to revolutionize communications along with areas like urban transport — driverless cars plying our streets safely could finally become reality.

But so far, 5G has failed to meet expectations due to the lagging build of infrastructure in many places. Apple has yet to launch a compatible phone, unlike rivals including Samsung.

The rollout should quicken next year as more countries install base stations and networking equipment — although US President Donald Trump’s war on Chinese sector leader Huawei remains a wild card.

As smartphone sales plateau around the world, manufacturers have been focussing more on ancillary services.

“You have to sell the entire experience, the entire ecosystem,” Dominique Bindels, senior analyst for home and tech with London-based research firm Euromonitor International, told AFP.

Highlighting Apple’s success in payments and peripheral devices such as AirPods, Bindels predicted that smart earphones, along with speakers and at-home devices connected on the «internet of things», would be among the more dynamic sectors in 2020.

Another trend could be consolidation in TV streaming, after Apple and Disney joined Netflix, Amazon Video and some national broadcasters in a crowded subscription market.

For the industry at large, business consultancy Accenture this year coined the acronym DARQ to denote four major trends: distributed ledger technology (such as blockchain), artificial intelligence (AI), extended reality and quantum computing.

Unbreakable blockchain networks of computers have already been generating virtual currencies in the form of bitcoin and its ilk, bypassing the need for a regulator like a government or central bank.

Facebook wants to make the tech respectable through its “Libra” project, but has hit political opposition around the world, and several financial partners have pulled out.