The global tech industry witnessed some of the biggest failures and successes in 2016. As we step into a new year, let's take a walk down the memory lane.
Smartphones were as usual big in 2016, but we also saw consumers' interest driven towards new aspects such as IoT, VR, AR and more. But not everything that made the headlines was memorised by our brains to remember this year by, except a few things that we just cannot miss.
Let's take a look at the biggest tech buzz of 2016, which will remind us of this year for as long as we talk about them.
Reliance Jio
Indians were treated with the biggest surprise of their lives as the telecom industry took a wild turn. Thanks to Reliance Jio, there were several transitions in the telecommunications industry ranging from change in the behaviour of mobile users to steep discounts and price cuts on calling and data tariffs.
To top it off with further greatness, Mukesh Ambani announced the Happy New Year offer, which extended the free data and voice calling benefits to all of its users till March 31, 2017. We can be sure that Jio will remain the talk of the tinsel town in 2017 as well. And who knows what Jio has in store after March 31, 2017.
Read: Reliance Jio on track to touch 100 million users by March, but might start losing some after that
Samsung Galaxy Note 7
As great it was 2016 for Reliance Jio, the same cannot be said about Samsung. The smartphone giant had to seize its entire Galaxy Note 7 production after several reports of explosions started looming the company's brand name. The catastrophic effect of the Galaxy Note 7 recall not only left the company with a multi-billion-dollar loss, but also lost a significant amount of market share it would have otherwise acquired with Galaxy Note 7 sales during the holiday season and throughout 2017.
The handsets were banned from airlines due to safety risks and recalled in a stern fashion by limiting certain features, but the company is yet to retrieve a large number of handsets that are still in use.
The company is, however, taking counter measures to contain the damage as much as possible. There is a lot of pressure on the company for its next release, the Galaxy S8, and whether it will be enough to win the trust of its customers all over again.
Best of luck in 2017 Samsung!
Apple iPhone 7
Well, frankly speaking there were a lot of mixed reactions about the iPhone 7. Did the company live up to its fans' expectations? Did it manage to impress critics? Did it beat other flagship rivals in the 2016 race? Yes, Yes and probably yes! But when the iPhone 7 was launched and the features were officially confirmed, the audience was divided.
Yes, the loss of Jack (we mean the 3.5mm headphone one) is still being missed. Like that wasn't trolled enough by netizens, the company's wireless Bluetooth AirPods gave more reasons to troll the company. Besides, the company did gain some edge after the Galaxy Note 7 debacle as many smartphone shoppers looked out for the upgrade-worthy iPhone 7 Plus (Oh yes! The Jet Black edition).
Mobile wallets replaced cash
The surgical strike on black money in India by Prime Minister Narendra Modi benefitted some companies. The digitalisation of economy remains one of the top priorities in the government's agenda and companies like Paytm and Freecharge made the most out of it.
The day PM Modi banned Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes, use of mobile wallets spiked in India. Paytm witnessed a striking 1,000 percent hike in transactions following the move. Well, it's really not clear how far we are from becoming a cashless country, but the road to get there isn't an easy one.
