What has long been a subject of science fiction—a totally immersive virtual world inhabited by all of humanity—is increasingly a part of Big Tech companies’ plans for future growth. And the winner is…
Fundamental Thinking
The perspectives of Harding Loevner’s sector and industry analysts on a range of investment topics.
Super Cycles: This Time It Might Be for Wheel
E-bikes, the latest mobility craze for aging Baby Boomers, may have enough juice to help one venerable component maker engineer a breakaway.
Third Law: How a Pair of Chip Companies Came to Hold the Keys to Everything
Much of modern digital society now rests on advanced silicon chips made by just two manufacturers—and there is no road back.
The Pot Thickens: Online Gambling Comes of Age
With the pandemic accelerating internet wagering’s spread around the world, a handful of seasoned global players vie with new regulation and competition to take their game to the next level.
Update: The Vaccine Race Investment Case Enters a New Phase
After a pair of stunning announcements, two biotech upstarts take a big step toward approval, and toward potentially charting a less-travelled path to long-term profitability.
The First Time in Memory: Have Durable Profits Finally Arrived in IT’s Most Volatile Segment?
After decades of 70% growth spurts, vicious price wars, and a major price-fixing scandal, memory chips show signs of behaving, dare we say, almost like a stable business.
Hearing Aids for All—Sound Good?
How new regulations and direct-to-consumer distribution models play out for the hearing industry is—much like these tiny marvels of technology themselves—likely to be complicated.
Untested: The Investment Case Behind the Race for a Coronavirus Vaccine
As the candidates hurtle toward the finish line, modelling the long-term profits for one of the most audacious undertakings in the history of science remains a separate challenge.
A People’s War: China and the Coronavirus
China was the first country to confront COVID-19 and appears to be the first to recover. The solidarity and tenacity of the Chinese people were key reasons for the success, writes Harding Loevner Analyst Jingyi Li.
It’s a Wrap? How Consumer Behavior Is Shaping the Future of Plastic Packaging
Consumer goods companies are being pressured to reduce or eliminate single-use plastics from product packaging. This presents an opportunity and a challenge. One thing seems certain: companies that ignore demands for eco-friendly packaging do so at their peril.
The Global Recycling Shakeup: Why Tech Is Replacing Cheap Labor in the Plastic Recycling Industry
In response to China’s decision to halt plastic scrap imports, some waste management companies in the West are going high tech.
A Bitter Pill: Why Big Pharma’s Era of Big Profits May Be Expiring
Pharmaceutical companies, pressured by buyers to lower drug prices, find their high profit margins threatened.