Three themes have been top of mind, one has been rattling around for a bit and has already seen some digging done.
Anime, where there seems to be a nice blending of both secular tailwinds on the supply and demand side; technology is sure to help production costs while western appetite for media has continued to expand.
Which gets me to the next area which undoubtedly helped to pave the way for Anime in the West - video games. Again, I suspect technological advancement helps on the supply side while the demand side is robust as ever, especially when we think about generations aging and the growing connected mobile masses.
Finally, one that has perhaps finally come of age though I don't know if the best entities are private or within mega corps - three-dimensional printing and additive manufacturing. Another where both sides of the equation should benefit from current technological trends.
Anime:
Funimation
Sega Sammy
Avex
IG Port
Toei
Yggdrazil group
Sony
Bandai Namco
Netflix
Kadokawa <- this one may be the best idea though it currently has a Sony bid under the share price - that said even at these levels I'm ok with it.. but not a huge fan of Sony so there is some work to overcome that future (which is looking likely)
Konami
Square Enix
Toho
Thunderbird
etc.
Video Games
Nintendo
Microsoft
Sony
DeNA - partnered with Nintendo on the new pokemon game (ios/android), game has been popular though I don't know the split between companies.. not early here but I suspect not late either
EA
TTWO
etc.
Three-dimensional printing/ additive manufacturing:
3D Systems
Stratasys
Nano Dimension
Xometry
Proto Labs
Materialise
ExOne
Desktop Metal
Velo3D
Markforged
Fathom Digital Manufacturing
Shapeways
Voxeljet
HP
GE
etc.
The three-dimensional printing/ additive manufacturing space has been through the boom and bust more than once, and I know there were takeouts after the first roller coaster ride; unlike the above themes I have very outdated understanding here.
Lots of work to do and let's see if I can get anything done before earnings season rolls around and the distractions abound! With the above average earnings warnings coming in, valuations, and the turn of the year - all bets are off.. though I remain very bearish.
br. -john
p.s. what other themes can benefit from current technological trends, not talking about things that require a paradigm shift - just ones that will benefit from a semi-current state of things (e.g. machine learning and productivity)
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