{"id":614239,"date":"2023-03-04T08:50:06","date_gmt":"2023-03-04T14:50:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.sellorbuyhomefast.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/04\/smartphone-makers-searched-for-a-way-forward-at-mwc-2023\/"},"modified":"2023-03-04T08:50:06","modified_gmt":"2023-03-04T14:50:06","slug":"smartphone-makers-searched-for-a-way-forward-at-mwc-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/04\/smartphone-makers-searched-for-a-way-forward-at-mwc-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Smartphone makers searched for a way forward at MWC 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The slowdown was<\/span> inevitable, of course. Nothing stays hot forever \u2014 especially in this industry. By tech standards, smartphones have had a good run, but the last few years have seen device makers searching for the magic bullet to help the sales slide reverse course. The arrival of 5G was a nice reprieve, but next-generation telecom standards don\u2019t arrive every year.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s too early to say with certainly whether the move toward device repairability in the midst of new and proposed legislation will have a meaningful impact, but it was a highlight at this year\u2019s show, which HMD turned into a central thesis<\/a>. Regardless of how many people take advantage of the ability to repair their devices at home (or have a third party repair them), it\u2019s another potential pain point for industry growth.<\/p>\n

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Nokia booth at MWC 2023. Image Credits:<\/strong> Brian Heater<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Foldables have seemingly performed many expectations (specifically for Samsung), but not nearly enough to really move the needle. Phone makers have a refresh problem. For a long time, phone purchases were inexorably tied to carrier plans, putting the devices on a two- or three-year cycle. Of course, the kinds of financing deals that let you spend less up front have a way of making you pay in the end.<\/p>\n

There does seem to be a looming sense of carriers and manufacturers attempting to return to something similar with a new name.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s going to be more of a movement toward models where devices themselves are sold more as a service,\u201d Google\u2019s Sameer Samat told me this week<\/a>. \u201cI think there\u2019s a lot of innovative work going on in the carrier side to figure out how you buy a device for less up front, you use it and return it after a period of time and you get another device as part of your overall subscription.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"OnePlus\"<\/p>\n

Image Credits:<\/strong> Brian Heater<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In a world where we don\u2019t own our movies, music or software, the concept of \u201chardware as a service\u201d is rapidly emerging as its own path forward. Like the move from physical albums to Spotify, it has trade-offs.<\/p>\n

Some consumers will no doubt jump at the opportunity to upgrade hardware without a thought, but is not owning your phone the same as not owning a CD or record? Will these ultimately end up costing us a lot more in the end? And in a time when most manufacturers are touting percentages of recycled materials, how much more waste will this model create?<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also a sense phone makers effectively painted themselves into a corner. The yearly one-upmanship ultimately benefited consumers with much better devices. I\u2019ve said this a bunch, but these days it\u2019s hard to find a bad phone for more than $500 \u2014 there are also an increasing number of good ones for less than that. These days, a \u201cbudget\u201d device often involves settling for last year\u2019s best chipset.<\/p>\n

Better phones last longer, both in terms of durability and futureproofing feature set. Having a three- or four-year-old phone these days doesn\u2019t mean the same thing it meant three or four years ago. That\u2019s also due, in part, to the fact that innovation has slowed. It\u2019s become a battle for inches. When was the last time you saw a truly revolutionary upgrade from last year\u2019s model? Do moderately better screens, cameras or even batteries compel that many people toward impulse purchases?<\/p>\n

\u201cThe smartphone market grew initially because there was a really innovative product that was useful to customers,\u201d Nothing\u2019s Carl Pei told me in an interview this week<\/a>. \u201cNow it\u2019s starting to shrink, because my phone is good enough. Why should I upgrade?\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"A<\/p>\n

Image Credits:<\/strong> Natasha Lomas\/TechCrunch<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Taking the broader view, none of this is bad, per se. It means better products for consumers, as well as a slowing of the massive waste generated by millions of people buying a new device every other year. We all tacitly understand why corporations and shareholders hope such cycles will sustain forever, but many of us are glad they don\u2019t. Companies need one of two things to happen: either reversing the slide or shifting focus to other revenue streams.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere will always be sales of new phones,\u201d says Samat. \u201cBut I think you\u2019re now reaching the point where this is, for many people, it is their primary computing device. So, there are different and more interesting ways of looking at the market. I think in terms of what are you able to do with these devices? What does engagement look like? What are the services that you\u2019re utilizing? And how is it integrated with other parts of your life?\u201d<\/p>\n

The writing has been on the wall for a while. The slowdown pre-dates the pandemic by some time, but the last three years have certainly accelerated the trend. Shutdowns, unemployment, inflation, supply chain constraints \u2014 you know the deal. Forward thinking companies invested heavily in content plays. That\u2019s certainly paid off for Apple and some of the competition, as well. There were moments where wearables and smart home devices seemed like they might help stem the bleeding, but while both have done well for manufacturers, there isn\u2019t the same sense of ubiquity.<\/p>\n

6G isn\u2019t anything beyond a number of different companies vying for adoption of their specific solution, so we\u2019re looking at years before the first devices start arriving. At a conference that loves nothing more than hyping a new technology, 5G\u2019s potential replacement only warranted a single panel.<\/p>\n

Mike, who sat in on the panel<\/a>, notes:<\/p>\n

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The first thing to note is that it\u2019s not arriving anytime soon. The projections are that the likes of you and I will only get 6G into our hot little hands from around 2030 onwards, so it would be best to quell your ire for now.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Anyone else feel like it\u2019s 50\/50 between 6G and Mad Max scenario for 2030? Okay, maybe it\u2019s just me. Even so, that feels impossibly far away and doesn\u2019t do much for any of these companies in the near term.<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

Oppo\u2019s Find N2 Flip at MWC 2023. Image Credits: <\/strong>Brian Heater<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Maybe foldables have a lot more juice left in them? If MWC was any indication, manufacturers certainly believe so. It seemed like every company had one this year. Well, everyone except Nothing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI personally think foldables are supply chain-driven innovation and not consumer insights,\u201d Pei said. \u201cSomebody invents OLED, and they can make a lot of money, because it\u2019s a great technology. Then after a few years, a lot more companies make that, so they need to lower their prices. So they need to figure out what else they can sell at a higher margin. They develop flexible OLEDs, which they can sell at a higher price.\u201d<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

Image Credits:<\/strong> Brian Heater<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

It\u2019s hard not to be cynical about this stuff sometimes. Ditto for concept devices, though as I noted in my \u201code to weird tech\u201d<\/a> post, as someone who follows this stuff for a living, I\u2019m a fan of weirdness for weirdness sake, be it the rollable Motorola Rizr<\/a> screen or the OnePlus glowing cooling fluid<\/a>. Certainly following the automotive industry\u2019s lead of creating concept devices is a trend that is likely to only become more pervasive.<\/p>\n

OnePlus COO Kinder Liu told me this week that gauging consumer interest is one of the \u201cmultiple reasons\u201d his company is engaging with the concept. He added, \u201cAlso, we want to encourage continuous innovation inside our company.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pretty much everyone I engaged with this week echoed the sentiment that smartphones are in a rut. For the first time, however, it\u2019s not a foregone conclusion that there\u2019s a way of getting out.<\/p>\n

\"Read<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>
\n Brian Heater<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The slowdown was inevitable, of course. Nothing stays hot forever \u2014 especially in this industry. By tech standards, smartphones have had a good run, but the last few years have seen device makers searching for the magic bullet to help the sales slide reverse course. The arrival of 5G was a nice reprieve, but next-generation<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":614240,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1324,2909,46],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-614239","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-makers","8":"category-smartphone","9":"category-technology"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=614239"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614239\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/614240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=614239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=614239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=614239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}