Horizons Newsletter – week 14 // 2021
Horizons is a bi-monthly Dasym Research initiative to show you how the Dasym themes have been in the news. We publish the Horizons on our website and as an email newsletter. If you wish to receive the email, please contact Investor Relations.
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Opening credits
The global cinema industry is going through tough times this pandemic, but light is appearing at the end of the tunnel. In China, where cinemas reopened last summer, people feel safe enough to return in droves, as the impressive box office numbers show. Theaters in the States and Europe are also preparing to open again. Moreover, releases are returning as well, albeit on a different window. During the pandemic, studios started to premier films directly on their streaming services, skipping the theatrical window altogether. Now, however, the theaters are reaching deals with studios on shorter release windows. Last summer, AMC Theatres agreed on a 17-day release window with Universal in exchange for a cut of the VOD revenues. Last month, AMC and Warner Bros. signed a multiyear deal for a 45-day window of theatrical exclusivity in the U.S. and 31 days in the U.K. (or 45 days for bigger films). These deals are likely to provide the blueprint for the industry going forward and might do the trick to revive the theater business.
Broaden your horizon?
In this section we share content that may be of interest to you:
- This Bloomberg article explains the current situation in the chip industry and how the pandemic reshaped demand for chips.
- In this infographic, the Medical Futurist shows five levels of automation in medical procedures to provide a clearer picture of how automation will impact healthcare.
- In the last Horizons we wrote about the advent of non-fungible tokens and the demand for tradable digital assets. Although they could theoretically be a great investment, a number of investors have recently seen their NFTs (and money) dissipate into thin air. VICE explains what happened.
Harvest now, decrypt later
In the coming decade, quantum computers will likely break current modes of encryption. This is not necessarily a problem for future communication and data storage, as cryptography can be made (practically) quantum-proof, but it will retroactively expose data we store and send today. That is, intelligence agencies and hackers are harvesting encrypted data, in the hope that quantum computing will help them to uncover valuable information from it in the future. Given the fact that quantum computers will be available to institutional users first, governmental agencies will be among the first to decrypt previously harvested data. They will be looking for sensitive or strategic data that could hurt or weaken adversaries. In the longer run, as the technology becomes available to a broader group of users, non-state actors may take an interest in decrypting data they can use to blackmail their victims. While this probably will not affect the common man so much, as most of us are not of particular interest, high-value targets may have to start worrying about the consequences of having their data exposed.
