TechTalk
Time to break free of the incessant tech upgrade cycle
Amid greater eco-awareness, firms need to put sustainability at centre of products
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Lim Sun Sun For The Straits Times
As more countries transition towards living with Covid-19, technology companies are seeing a dip in product sales after high demand in the past two years when working and learning from home became the norm. Shareholders are undoubtedly fretting over this gloomy state of affairs, with the capitalist growth-at-all-costs model not going quite according to plan.
Yet this lukewarm climate for technology products may compel a rethink of the classic upgrade cycle that companies and consumers alike have become accustomed to - buy a smartphone or laptop, use it for a few years, jettison it when it turns sluggish and upgrade to an improved model. Rinse and repeat.
