The year in tech is over, and now it begins anew. Throughout 2022, there were major triumphs and epic fails. Here are our winners and losers for 2022.
It was a year that saw the gaming battle lines redrawn by a PC handheld, saw the cloud take the ascendancy and the smart TV become a destination for all your gaming needs.
The smart home took major leaps towards ending a decade of complex fragmentation, and consumers finally got the tools to repair their own mobile devices with all the official praters. After years of promise, Google’s Pixel phone range came of age.
But tech storm clouds also gathered. A certain entrepreneur’s disruption of the social landscape went as well as most people expected, while 2022 was a barren year for one of gaming’s biggest names. A streaming pioneer also suffered a little buffering…
Read on for the Winners and Losers of 2022…
Winner: Steam Deck
Valve’s handheld PC gaming machine was an unbridled success in 2022. The Steam Deck has surpassed most reasonable expectations for the new form factor, finally enabling PC gamers to bring their libraries on the go. Valve did an amazing job in verifying games for the device, while working through the backlog of orders in hugely impressive fashion. Gamers couldn’t be happier with their devices and it almost defies belief this is first-generation hardware for a company that has for so long focused on software.
Winner: Google Pixel 7
The Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro finally saw Google’s homegrown range of smartphones reach maturity. Both handsets received 4.5-star review scores from Trusted Reviews, winning praise for the Tensor G2 processor, excellent cameras and affordable pricing compared to other flagships.
Best of all, the first few months on release haven’t resulted in the endless bugs that have plagued Pixel since the series’ inception. What you’re left with it’s the best version of Android out there.
Winner: The right to repair movement
Our wildcard pick is a story that flew under the radar during 2022, the roll out of official programmes enabling Apple, Samsung and Google device owners to repair their own gadgets with official tools, proper parts and clear guides.
It’s a big win for people who’ve campaigned for the right to repair their own gadgets. Parts are expensive right now, but it’ll hopefully lead to a more sustainable environment, where users are less inclined to throw away old tech.
Loser: Elon Musk
Musk had a stinker in 2022. Tesla’s share prize went down the karzy, his questionable viewpoints saw him fall from grace as a potential savior for humanity and his protracted $44 billion takeover of Twitter has been utter carnage.
The year comes to a close with Musk having fired much of the workforce, released all of the baddies from Twitter jail, ditched many critical standards and safety divisions, and being hoisted by his own petard having staged a poll asking Twitter users whether he should stay in charge.
10 million voted for him to go, by a landslide. Musk has now pledged to quit once he finds a new CEO “foolish enough” to take the job.
Loser: Xbox
Xbox users, who splashed a fortune on the Xbox Series X, have every right to be upset about 2022. There was a grand total of zero high-profile first party releases in the year, while PS5 gamer got God of War: Ragnarok, Horizon Forbidden West, Gran Tourism 7 and The Last of Us Part 1.
Game Pass continued to serve up some gems, new and old, but it was an admittedly rough year for the company. Microsoft also faces the prospect of regulators blocking its proposed takeover of Activation Blizzard. 2023 must be better.
Loser: Netflix
Many would argue the Netflix bubble well as truly burst in 2022. Growth bottomed out, with subscribers ditching the streaming service for the first time. It has led to the company to search for new ways to boost revenue. It launched an ad-funded tier (something it had been dead set against), clamped down on password sharing (something it had been cool, and even encouraged, with for years) and branched out into gaming to step the tide.
It also dealt with an influx of new competitors in the streaming realm and high-quality, high-profile programming from the likes of Apple TV, Disney Plus, HBO Max, Amazon Prime, who enjoyed success with the weekly release model Netflix continues to eschew. No longer is Netflix the ultimate destination for streaming.
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