Smartphone Growth is Stalling
I bought a new smartphone last year. My last phone was slowing down and seemed outdated. My two-year old Google phone seemed outdated. Now my 'new' phone is two generations behind the new recent updates.
Consumers can't keep up with new technologies. But to me, incremental phone updates every year are not worth thousands of dollars in upgrades. But this is the cost of innovation.
Apple's Non-event was Spectacular
Apple is an innovative technology company. Three months ago at the WWDC Keynote, Apple created a viral social tag on Twitter. Every time someone 'liked' the #AppleEvent tag, the icon would deliver a special effect. This went viral on Twitter. Influencers and followers couldn't get enough of this special effect.
Last week the company released updates to the HomePod Mini and iPhone 12. The major updates for the phone were hardware upgrades. A new processor, improved camera, and LIDAR will make for interesting developments. This was the first time I've seen LIDAR, or Augmented Reality (AR) technology, in a smartphone. Developers will have a lot of fun with this new feature.
The most impressive element of the event was the presentation. Apple did an amazing job engaging the audience during the whole clip. From building up social media interest ['Like' buttons] to the interactive camera, moving from speaker to speaker. Not to forget the gigantic high-quality display in the video clip belwo. I would rent this venue for my own events in the future.
Below is the September launch of the New Apple Watch, Fitness+, One, and iPad.
Google's Launch Night Didn't Hold a Candle Light
Android's Operating System dominates the smartphone world. It has 70% of the global market. But Google's Pixel phones do not dominate the premium market.
I've always enjoyed Android phones given the flexibility and customizable options. Plus Google has better software than Apple. To me, it's worth the green bubble headache when texting my iPhone friends.
But the Pixel 5 launch event didn't pack the punch. It was an incremental improvement to the Pixel 3 and Pixel 4 phones. This is a flagship event but not a flagship launch. There is no Pixel 5XL.
Pricing made an interesting turn with this phone. $699. It did not increase pricing like the iPhone does every year. This phone has intentional cut features to improve phone efficiency. Check out MKBHD's video to see the the new body coating, screen touch, and improved battery life.
But hold off until 5G rolls out
I'm not a big fan of these updates. In fact I'm disappointed in the lackluster developments. The market has maximized its ability with our current mobile technologies. The limitations for phones come from two areas: battery life and processing power. These go hand-in-hand.
The continued investment in high-tech cameras is impressive. Today my phone even my front-facing camera has better video quality than my computer's webcam. I love using it to record live videos and commentary. With 5G, bandwidth speeds will 10x and developers will have more tools to improve applications.
But until Verizon and AT&T launch a nationwide 5G rollout and smartphones catch up, these launch events wont get any better. Software is constraint by hardware. And it'll be some time before we see a quantum leap in mobile developments.
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4 年Interest read. I think the biggest launch event and the resulting hype was the iPhone 6. Since then, the iPhone launches have become marginally less irrilvent every year.