I checked with my boss (he is part shareholder of a container company) to get his 2 cents:
He considers the container market to still be pretty liquid, although dryboxing containers (speciality of the company) has seen a recent dip due to china (has become less and less exporting, but that's nothing new) but expects this to pick up again in the coming years. So positive outlook on average.
The company he has a stake in is incredibly efficient, just to give you an idea (as a tank container lessor):
Gross Margin: 45%
Ebit Margin 20%
And a crazy FCF (despite investing in additional containers)
Buyers have very stable purchasing habits, I forgot to ask what he thinks of excess inventory...
There is definitely room for consolidation and he expects this to become reality in the next couple of years, I have worked on 3 buyout scenarios for the same company this year. You btw also see diversification, the larger shipping container taking over smaller air/rail containers (with a special interest toward nonstandard containers such as cooling containers (for food, blood, plasma), that market is undoubtedly going to boom)
Electronic platforms, to the extent of the lessor company where I worked, definitely yes, they are finishing the implementation of a program ( i forgot the name but might be able to find it) that makes tank container placement/ordering/billing significantly more efficient, management gave us a presentation and I was really impressed.
And yes, the industry is evolving towards the use of the mammoth ships, container size will remain the same however.
The shift in business vessels I honestly do not know, I'll try to pick his brain later today
Please let me know if you need additional info