But how much the world has changed under the effect of the pandemic. In December, nearly 11 million Americans left their jobs, a good half without a project already defined. In January, as the Fed's ax swung in to curb inflation, Microsoft and Sony they battled to the tune of billions to conquer the leadership in the world of electronic games which, accounts in hand, are now worth more than the traditional entertainment industry, cinema, theater and live concerts.
An overtaking which, explains media analyst Michael Wolf, makes us understand how "the virtual world is now so developed that the public thinks of replicating everything you can find in the physical world on the platform". And that you can buy through the increasingly sophisticated world of Google, capable of piloting the user's attention through Artificial Intelligence.
And the triumph of digital which, however, seems destined to give way to the metaverse, the place where the physical and digital worlds merge through virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR). “It is a place that offers a sense of immediacy and immersion, a shared virtual environment which, in our opinion, will become the successor of Internet 5 in the next 10-3.0 years”, hazards a study by Pictet.
And with a direction worthy of Hollywood, to close the week of Gold Accounts of the Bigs it will be right Meta (formerly Facebook) which proposes itself as the leader of the new market that according to Bloomberg could be worthand $800 billion in 2025. Many, too many for a single protagonist. But there are many subjects who aim to conquer a slice of the new virtual world. Including Apple, the anti-Facebook par excellence, firmly above the 3 trillion stock market value. And Amazon, in the shadows in recent months, which could surprise the markets with some fireworks on Friday.
Here is a summary of a bizarre week, dominated at the start by fear of the flurry of rate hikes (4 maybe 5) that the Federal Reserve is planning for 7, but which is heading towards the end with the feeling that the virtual world, thanks also to the acceleration imposed by the social distancing imposed by the pandemic, has now reached its own specific strength capable of dictating the rules to traditional manufacturing, weighed down among other things by the logistics problems that forced the World Bank to cut global growth by 2022% this years. A completely different music for the big names in Silicon Valley. And for Wall Street which, enticed by price discounts, runs to fill up on those tech stocks that boast rich profits and promise new ones. For example:
- It is impressive to see a giant dinosaur running like a gazelle. It is the case of A (formerly Google) which has soared over the top of 2 trillion dollars in value (more or less the Italian public debt) after the triumphal accounts: in 2021 the turnover was 257 billion dollars, up from 41%, a record that has made it possible to almost double profits up to 76 billion. A gold mine that Google also makes available to the "poorest" investors, those who cannot afford to speculate on the stock at its current value of a generous 2.700 dollars. Hence the decision of proceed to the split: 20 new titles versus one old one. A move that suggests new purchases.
- Salt the wait for the first accounts of Meta, as Mark Zuckerberg renamed the most popular social network, coming in the night. The metaverse, however, is not a winner-takes-all world, and no one can build it alone. Many other large companies (including Google, Microsoft and Apple) are exploring ways to improve their product offerings. The National Football League (NFL) has opened a virtual store within the Roblox universe, while Adobe is working on a new design tool to allow for the creation of custom 3D objects in the virtual world. The New York Times has published a long article on fashion in the other world where fashionable cities are already springing up and the avatars of successful stars are exhibiting.
- Products are already popping up to ride what could be the new internet of the decade, which requires gigantic investments in hardware and software but which will unleash its enormous potential, also changing the way of producing, only when there is enough space in the cloud and in the infrastructures. And soon we will dedicate a service to the new items, between video games and virtual reality, necessary to take advantage of the advance of the metaverse and the most suitable financial products. Appointment tonight to the ex Facebook accounts.
