Growth through Nanotechnology Opportunities anNanotechnology Global Strategies, Industry Trends and

problems occur in scaling up production (maintaining quality, manufacturing

regulations, industry and environmental standards, non-standard machinery);

supply of raw materials shifts due to changes in regional or global demand;

the market size and anticipated market share change during development;

anticipated early adopters of technology have found alternative solutions;

changes in available technologies and customer demands, and changes in

industry standards and government regulations can make the product obsolete

before it is even completed;

the technology trend or adoption of technology moves rapidly in a different

direction (e.g. Beta video technology lost out to VHS);

other disruptive nanotechnology may make current technology concepts obsolete;

the technology or product turns out to have unforeseen and undesirable side

effects.

The risks when investing in nanotechnology are fairly standard and the above list is

by no means exhaustive. With respect to investing in nanotechnology, there is an

important observation that needs to be made. Unlike many of the expectations that

lead up to the past dot-com frenzy and its rapid fall, nanotechnology has solid

tangible products and product platforms to show at the end of the development and

their success does not depend much on anticipated consumer behaviour. Many

consumers may not even be aware that a product has been nanotechnology

enhanced or that its functionality is based entirely on nanotechnology.

The success of nanotechnology products hinges, like many other new platform

technologies, on adaptation by industry and the pace at which a mechanism for

quality control and standardization can be achieved. The success of nanotechnology

and its contribution to economic growth are very much in the hands of the industry,

its professional association and government policy makers. The end consumer is

merely the beneficiary of very much improved products. Naturally, the end consu￾mer will choose the better-performing construction material or the light, comfor￾table and more attractive shoes, but that has always been the case in the past and is

not expected to change in the future.

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