Is traditional publishing going the way of hand-set type and the mimeograph machine? Are books, magazines and newspapers becoming relics?
Will e-readers, smart phones and devices like Apple’s iPad spell the end of publishing as we have known it for hundreds of years? Will online, on-demand video kill commercial television stations?
If you are wondering whether you should buy or sell the stocks of companies caught in the titanic shift in media consumption, you are asking the right questions.
However, you may be focusing on the bigger picture.
The technology that is driving our changing media consumption habits is only one part of the equation.
Thanks to a convergence of portable and smart services with technology and virtual unlimited access to the Internet, media consumers are changing their consumption habits.
How exactly this will play out is still uncertain, however stock investors should consider media and technology companies as future growth candidates.
The companies that will survive and prosper may not be just the leaders in innovation (although some of the leaders will provide huge opportunities).
Look for established companies that are tuned into consumer demand and are able to adept products and services to that demand and the technology that will satisfy it.
For any company to succeed, it will need market share, brand loyalty and leadership that makes confident decisions about technology and services and has the limberness to act quickly.
Not every shiny new piece of hardware or software will be widely adopted (in fact, most won’t), but the companies that survive and prosper will focus more on customer experience and less on the “coolness” of innovation.
It is hard to know exactly which companies fit this model currently, but you can begin to identify the companies that will struggle in this brave new media world.
They are the companies that deny change, resist new business models and don’t listen to their customers.
