rssconsumer

From Rooms to Experiences: 2026 Trends in Workplace Technology

Gala Spasova — Thu, 08 Oct 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC Presentation sets out the trends shaping workplace collaboration and design in 2026, each with its drivers, indicators to watch, and IDC recommendations.

AI is moving through the workspace in three waves: First, it enters the meeting room, then it moves into the managed estate, and finally into the building itself. In 2026, agentic AI is leaving pilots, offices are filling again, and organizations are redesigning facilities around intelligence, management, and experience. The latest product wave, seen at InfoComm 2026, confirms how quickly this is becoming a reality.

NRF Europe 2026: The Shift from Retail AI Ambition to Connected Store Execution

Thu, 08 Oct 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC Market Note summarizes the themes that emerged at NRF 2026: Retail’s Big Show Europe. It examines the shift from broad AI ambition to operational decision execution; the convergence of computer vision, RFID, smart data capture, shelf-edge infrastructure, and self-checkout; the continuing role of people and physical stores; and the data and operating foundations required for scale.

“NRF Europe 2026 showed that retail AI is being judged less by the novelty of the model and more by whether it can shorten the path from a signal to a useful action. Computer vision, RFID, self-checkout, and agentic workflows are converging around inventory accuracy, store execution, and loss prevention. The winners will be the retailers that connect those capabilities to trusted data and clear operating decisions without removing human accountability,” says Cristiano Quattrini, Senior Associate Advisor, IDC Retail Insights.

Supersizing the Middleman: Uber's ezCater Acquisition Extends Platform Consolidation to Catering and Raises the Stakes for Direct Ordering

Dorothy Creamer — Wed, 07 Oct 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC Link examines Uber Technologies' October 6, 2026, announcement that the company will acquire ezCater, the leading U.S. platform for workplace catering and group meal ordering, in an all-cash transaction valued at $2.3 billion. ezCater connects more than 140,000 restaurants with business buyers and generated more than $2.5 billion in gross bookings over the trailing 12 months, and the deal will fold that catering marketplace into Uber Eats and the enterprise relationships of Uber for Business. The acquisition is the latest signal that third-party ordering and delivery is consolidating into a small number of scaled, multiservice platforms, and it lands at a moment when restaurant operators are telling IDC that building their own direct digital channels is a top investment priority. The move carries implications for restaurant brands, franchisors, and multi-brand groups and for the point of sale (POS), ordering, loyalty, and AI vendors that serve them. When the same app that delivers your favorite fast-food indulgence can also cater your company's all-hands lunch, the restaurants that own their guest relationship will be the ones taking a seat at the table.

eSIM’s Next Battle: Who Owns the Orchestration Layer?

Jitesh Gera, Jason Leigh — Wed, 07 Oct 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC Market Perspective examines the accelerating shift from physical SIM to eSIM and iSIM, tracing how a single GSMA standards architecture — SGP.02, SGP.22, and now SGP.32 — is driving two connected growth curves across consumer devices and IoT. It quantifies current adoption in the United States and Europe, explains why IoT eSIM is reaching commercial scale roughly three times faster than consumer eSIM did, and identifies the competitive dynamics reshaping the industry: operators losing their traditional SIM-based choke point, a new layer of connectivity specialists and device OS vendors inserting themselves into the value chain, and regulators responding to cross-border roaming with a mix of restriction and, increasingly, acceptance. The document closes with targeted recommendations for mobile network operators, chipset and eUICC vendors, enterprises, and standards bodies navigating this transition.

“eSIM’s first decade proved the technology works. Its next chapter is about who controls the orchestration layer once the physical SIM stops being the operator’s main point of leverage. Right now, operators, device makers, and a new generation of connectivity specialists are all making a play for it at the same time,” says Jitesh Gera, research manager, Wireless Services at IDC.

IDC Survey Spotlight: How Is 5G Being Embraced by U.S. Consumers, and How Do They View the Impact on Their Overall User Experience?

Jason Leigh, Jitesh Gera — Tue, 06 Oct 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC Survey Spotlight examines the current adoption of 5G among U.S. consumers and their perceptions of the impact of 5G on the mobile user experience. Drawing on IDC’s U.S. Consumer Communications and Mobile Services Survey (September 2026, n = 2,000), the analysis finds that 5G’s pervasive availability and robust marketing machine has driven wide-scale adoption and consumer beliefs about 5G’s superiority over legacy generations.

“5G delivers exceptional throughput and significantly lower latencies than LTE, but the mobile ecosystem (operators, network equipment providers, and app developers) continues to struggle in transforming those performance attributes into a differentiated user experience,” says Jason Leigh, research director, Wireless Services. “Instead, table stakes 5G functionality in U.S. smartphones and nationwide coverage have established a homogeneity of network performance that consumers expect, regardless of whether they discern a difference in app functionality or carrier experience.”

IDC Survey Spotlight: What Factors Do U.S. Consumers Use to Evaluate Their 5G Network Providers?

Jason Leigh, Jitesh Gera — Tue, 06 Oct 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC Survey Spotlight assesses the top 5G-related factors U.S. consumers look for when choosing a mobile operator. While 5G carriers have long promoted 5G’s speed and latency, those performance traits have lost their power to sway buyers, who are now turning to foundational coverage and reliability to drive their decisions.

“Mobile operators used to sell consumers on the strength and availability of their 5G networks, but with the nuances of most ‘best network’ marketing claims difficult to discern for most, buyers fall back to what they know…network availability and reliability,” says Jason Leigh, research director, 5G & Wireless Services. “Mobile operators need to pivot from dangling speed and latency in front of consumers and begin proving more tangible-based arguments for their services based on the value that 5G brings, not just the performance.”

IDC Survey: SMB Communications Services Survey, 2026: Broadband & Wi-Fi

Daniela Rao — Tue, 06 Oct 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC Survey presentation explores the key trends and drivers shaping broadband and Wi-Fi services among U.S. small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), based on survey findings collected in August 2026.

Market Forecast: Worldwide XR Headset Forecast Update, 2026–2030 — CY 4Q26

Ramon T. Llamas — Tue, 06 Oct 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC presentation provides the five-year forecast for the XR headset market and delivers insights into the drivers and inhibitors of growth.

The worldwide XR market will benefit from new vendors and additional products, reaching a wider swath of customers sensitive to price and eager for improved experiences. This puts the onus on vendors to improve hardware (comfort, battery, display) and software (enterprise solutions, leveraging artificial intelligence) to demonstrate that XR can be an integral part of their personal and professional lives. — Ramon T. Llamas, research director, Mobile Devices and AR/VR, IDC

AI-ification of Retail Media

Ananda Chakravarty — Mon, 05 Oct 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC Perspective provides a viewpoint of how AI is changing the game with respect to mapping current attribution metrics in retail media. The report also reviews how AI addresses audience targeting as well as attribution through a set of techniques being pioneered by firms such as Amazon, Walmart, and other retail media networks (RMNs). The report also highlights marketing mix modeling and how this may move the market toward a more holistic view of retail media. Finally, the report identifies the flaws of return on ad spend (ROAS) attribution and how AI may overcome these flaws through new attribution methods.

“When your retail media metrics say 10x returns, but you’re barely breaking even, it’s time to revisit attribution. AI is changing the retail media game. New AI models are being rolled out by the most sophisticated RMNs to drive precise attribution. It’s time for a reset,” said Ananda Chakravarty, research vice president, IDC Retail Insights.

Digital Engineering and Operational Technology Services Case Studies Showcase Report, Part 10: Software-Defined Vehicle

Francesca Ciarletta, Mukesh Dialani — Wed, 30 Sep 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC Tech Buyer Presentation showcases 17 software-defined vehicle case studies that highlight customers' business challenges, the solutions implemented, and the value delivered. The case studies were submitted by engineering services vendors and vetted by IDC. This is the 10th in a series of case study showcase documents focused on a broad range of engineering challenges, demonstrating how service providers can serve as valuable partners in helping organizations address complex technology and business requirements.