2018: Innovation Is a Corporate Game, Not Startup

The ability to develop and adopt hi-tech has been widely attributed to the startup community rather than to corporate players. The year 2018 will be very different – corporations are gradually taking over the game by either aggressively pressuring startups in developing niches, or by monopolizing the areas of advanced technologies applications by democratizing their adoption. Prices will fall, technology will get more accessible to businesses, and the startup community will face not only peer pressure but a revival of corporate players that are exploring new niches.

A series of latest important news suggest that innovation in 2018 may become a corporate game, not a startup, which is dictated by the vision that "with the rapid pace of technological changes and disruption from startups, large corporations are under increasing pressure to respond with innovation."

Amazon is taking over industries at the speed of light. Now, the company is further rooting in the payments space with its latest partnership, 7-Eleven (added to CVS, Speedway, and GameStop, along with a handful of other supermarket chains and convenience stores).

Amazon Cash, the service that lets you use cash to shop Amazon online, arrives at 7-Eleven

• Amazon Cash, the service that lets consumers add cash to their Amazon.com balance at brick-and-mortar retailers, is now available at nearly 8,000 7-Eleven convenience stores.

• Cash customers represent 27% of consumers. These customers may not be regularly shopping online due to the need to use credit or debit cards at ...