Stocks That Can Profit From New Tech Boom
Certain cloud-computing and chip stocks should benefit from era of ‘smart,’ network-connected devices. A New York City police officer uploads images of a suspect to a fleet of drones patrolling above Times Square. When the squadron fails to find the target using facial recognition technology, a new algorithm is sent and, based on an analysis of his stride pattern, he is found and apprehended.
Simultaneously in Minnesota, a soy bean farmer receives a text telling her that, based on temperature, humidity, and soil moisture levels, and tomorrow’s forecast for between a quarter and a half an inch of rain, the irrigation and fertilization system will run for an hour less than planned.
Meanwhile in Perth, Australia, a technician monitors a fleet of gigantic driverless dump trucks 750 miles (1,200 kilometers) to the north. The vehicles, each the size of a house, are filled by autonomous loaders with ore dug by robotic drills. The trucks haul the raw material to automatic trains that shuttle between the iron mine and a processing plant, 24 hours a day.
This is now possible because of a convergence of sensor, data processing and network connectivity technologies alongside the growth, power and ubiquity of cloud-based computing. It’s a trend that is shaking the semiconductor industry out of a decade in the doldrums.
barrons.com
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