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Why Cheap Smartphones Are Going To Upset the Industry
An anonymous reader writes "Just when people got used to good smartphones costing $200 with a 2-year contract, they also started to realize that those 2-year contracts were bad news. Still, it's often more palatable than fronting $600 for good, new hardware. But that's starting to change. Cell phone internals are getting cheap enough that prices for capable devices have been creeping downward below $200 without a contract. We ran into something similar with the PC industry some years back — previous-gen chips had no trouble running next-gen software (excluding games with bleeding-edge graphics), and so the impetus to keep getting the latest-and-greatest hardware disappeared for a lot of people. That revolution is underway now for smartphones, and it's going to shake things up for everybody, including Apple and Samsung. But the biggest effects will be felt in the developing world: '[F]or a vast number of people in a vast number of countries, the cheap handset will be the first screen, and the only screen. Their primary interface with the world. A way of connecting to the Internet where there are no telephone lines or coaxial cables or even electricity. In nations without subsidized cell phone contracts or access to consumer credit, the $50-and-you-own-it handset is going to be transformative.'"
I would not be surprised in the least to find voice over internet protocol (VOIP) completely taking over once everyone has access to this technology.
Who needs a cellphone carrier if they have access to the internet?
The providers as we know them now may go back to selling buggy-whips for all I know...
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
Where people are still dumb enough to buy phones on contract. Every other country, civilized or not, the people pay for the phone and buy the service they need
A way of connecting to the Internet where there are no telephone lines or coaxial cables or even electricity.
What the hell is going to power the phones then? I think someone may be getting a little carried away with themselves
Watch those corners
I have a THL W200S. For 170GBP it's performance is similare to a Galaxy S4. What's more, no contract. For 12GBP a month (no contract) I get unlimited data, unlimited texts and 250 *free* minutes . It's no wonder folk at work are now taking an interest, trouble is they're all tied into contracts.
I agree cheap smartphones will have a tremendous effect in those areas, just look at what a huge impact OLPC has done. And by the way, food, sanitation and clean water a way overrated and hyped.
Except in places where data is limited to a fault, ie anywhere that isn't urban america and/or some other afluent cities (like London). Same reason why SDCards aren't going to die for android, as much as google might want you to stream your music it just isn't possible and a sub 2gig plan. Even then it's still stupid. So long as there are stupid caps to the level of data that companies will give people nothing like this will take off. Take my plan for example. I live in Australia and all the plans from every comapny around $30AUS a month have about 200-400 MB worht of data. to get anything worth while you have to go up to $60 a month which for a lot of people isn't something they can do. It's similarly shitty in a lot of other countries too
While I can't comment on the third world in general, I saw a lot of solar cell setups for charging cell phones in South Sudan - people even ran solar charging as a business; a solar panel, some car batteries, a black box of electronics and 3 to 5 South Sudanese pound for a full charge.
Also saw plenty of cell towers with solar panels and battery banks, with diesel generators for backup. Not as clean or tidy as plugging into the grid, granted... but it works. Was a life line for me for a year spent down there, and twice so for the people who lives their whole life there.
Just because you can't plug something into a national grid, don't mean you can't get power... often cheaper and more reliable than the grid too - at least in Juba.
Everything in the world is controlled by a small, evil group to which, unfortunately, no one you know belongs.
Clue up google. Dont be daft dick heads.
Unless you give me a 64g nexus phone thats $299, give me a mobile with 3 microSD slots.
1 for video
1 for photo
1 for apps/data.
Your 100% wireless internet is still 15 years off.
Liberty freedom are no1, not dicks in suits.
What else, precisely, were you expecting?
That we all continue to pay for the latest-and-greatest no matter what for ever and ever? Smartphones are plateauing, like any other technology. They are now so ubiquitous that there's little point spending a fortune for something that can do the same, but "slightly faster" or with more megapixels, or whatever.
Sure, there are evolutions, and merges of technology, and lots of new developments still to come but if the phones don't have something new, then they are all just the same as each other, give or take a few statistics here or there.
Smartphones beat out ordinary mobile phones, that's for sure, but it was a long while coming. Tablets are in the same place at the moment - they are powerful enough to run almost anything and so there's little to distinguish them except for company name and some random technical specifications.
Welcome to the era of ubiquitous computing, where my mobile phone can plot a course across Europe, suck down traffic data and tell people on Facebook when I'm going to arrive quicker than I could do it myself on a full PC. While also handling all my calls, monitoring my car engine, checking my Exchange accounts, etc.
The problem we have now is not pricing - the cost of something going down is rarely a problem for the consumers or the manufacturers and their suppliers. The problem we have now is what comes next? We all have Turing-capable machines that run at stupendous speeds, and most of us actually have several. The question is how do you design your services to take account of this - TV streaming, etc. is still in its infancy and pretty much in denial at the moment.
... it is just that the phone networks don't want you to have them.
I have a 5", quad core, 2GB RAM, 32GB Flash smart phone from Chinavasion. It is much like a Samsung S4, and cost US$250. Unlocked as a standard feature, and with dual SIM, Took five days to from order to doorstep. Plugged in my work SIM and my own SIM and gave back a my work's S3.
A cheap 4" can be had for under $70.
Xperia L is a sub $200 phone without a contract and it does pretty much everything I want from a smartphone
In the US anyway, Google/Motorola has been raising the bar on what's possible with inexpensive smartphones. I have a Moto G targeted to the Boost no-contract plan for which I paid $80, out the door. It has a decent (if non-removable) battery, excellent screen of a decent size, runs KitKat/Dual-Core/1GB RAM, and is even waterproof (plenty of YouTube videos showing the phone functioning in a bowl of water.) The next version (coming out soon) will add a much-needed MicroSD slot and LTE. The only significant con is the camera, which is pretty mediocre (but what do you expect for that price?)
The CDMA one I bought was easily flashed over to PagePlus/Verizon (Boost inexplicably did not request Moto permanently lock the bootloader; you can obtain a bootloader unlock code for free from Moto.) The GSM version is sold unlocked directly by Google for all of $180; the 4G will be $220.
And they just announced the Moto E; a slightly lower-spec phone for only a puny $130.
There's rampant speculation if Lenovo will continue this trend of well-spec'd cheap phones. The consensus seems to be no, given how Lenovo actually wants to make money on the purchase, and nobody thinks Google has any kind of usable margin on these superb value-priced phones.
I think its clear that not everyone can afford a premium smartphone or the cellular package required for it. The iPhone set the bar but many since have managed to reduce costs but still provide a good experience. It is why Apple created the iPhone 5C. Not that affluent American's would be buying the 5C. But that Apple realized to expand your market potential. You can't just market to a higher income market. Much like Apple never pushed Mac's much beyond a single percentage of PC market. It now has lowered prices on Macbook Air's realizing that consumers are deciding that they don't need such expensive devices to satisfy their requirements.
Emerging markets for smartphones are a hot bed potential for market share. Microsoft believes this focusing cheaper Windows phones on those areas and having some success. I myself have gone from premium products like Mac's and iPhones, to Chromebooks and cheaper low end PC laptops. Mainly because my requirements don't justify spending so much on the devices. Apple no doubt will retain its premium image in addressing the market for its products. But it may have to accept it will not be able to sell in markets as well keeping its margins and prices in tact. The future looks to be more affordable, less complex devices.
Except they really were not $200. It's just that people are too stupid to figure out the true cost.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
Transformative? Every time some semi alcoholic blogging 'communications major' from Vassar or some such place wanders into the mall and discovers that last year's models can be had, from a third party kiosk for near-free they immediately whip out their own brand new iPhone to proclaim a Golden Age is Upon Us.
Cheap smartphones have been around for years and years you retard. The problem is the NETWORK.
Wait, so is that bad? I thought we were using "disrupt", and it was supposed to be good. Does upset mean bad or good?
This is terrible! (meaning good)
Most Americans really have no idea how big Africa really is. This may help:
http://cdn.static-economist.com/sites/default/files/true-size-of-africa.jpg
Another bit of geography Americans often cannot grasp:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2014/04/07/the-less-americans-know-about-ukraines-location-the-more-they-want-u-s-to-intervene/
Interesting correlation there.
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Friends don't let friends enable ecmascript.
Can I go on record as giving not one single fuck if the "industry" is "upset"?
You want upset? Talk to my wife when she finds out I plan to spend my afternoon watching the Blackhawks, napping on the couch and playing Dark Souls II.
You are welcome on my lawn.
From a fair challenge like a chickenshit blowhard http://slashdot.org/comments.p...
From a fair challenge like a chickenshit blowhard http://slashdot.org/comments.p...
I read it as "FCC or foreign counterparts". I'd like to see concrete examples of relevant differences in radio communication regulations between the United States and the subsaharan countries in question.
From a fair challenge like a chickenshit blowhard who tosses names & runs http://slashdot.org/comments.p...
From a fair challenge like a chickenshit blowhard who tosses names & runs http://slashdot.org/comments.p...
From a fair challenge like a chickenshit blowhard who tosses names & runs http://slashdot.org/comments.p...
From a fair challenge like a chickenshit blowhard who tosses names & runs http://slashdot.org/comments.p...
Same thing, for the most part, in the USA with the welfare system. Since the 60's the percentage of people called "the poor" on welfare has INCREASED, not decreased. People have become fat, dumb, lazy because why should they do better by themselves, when someone else will give them something. Now, in the case of Africa, you have that, along with multiple corrupt governments. Not to make light of the fact that some people in Africa live in a DESSERT, but a comedian once said you know what you get when you plant a seed in sand? NOTHING, move where there is DIRT to grow something.
From a fair challenge like a chickenshit blowhard who tosses names & runs http://slashdot.org/comments.p...
From a fair challenge like a chickenshit blowhard who tosses names & runs http://slashdot.org/comments.p...
Who cares what the phone costs if they're bleeding you dry at $50+/mo for years on end.
With downmods of someone telling the truth about you? Lame http://slashdot.org/comments.p...
From a fair challenge like a chickenshit blowhard who tosses names & runs http://slashdot.org/comments.p...
From a fair challenge like a chickenshit blowhard who tosses names & runs http://slashdot.org/comments.p...
From a fair challenge like a chickenshit blowhard who tosses names & runs http://slashdot.org/comments.p...
From a fair challenge like a chickenshit blowhard who tosses names & runs http://slashdot.org/comments.p...
From a fair challenge like a chickenshit blowhard who tosses names & runs http://slashdot.org/comments.p...
ks kysouke's a real piece of work. Gives registered users a bad name. What a punk.
ks kyosuke's a piece of work. Gives registered users a bad name. What a punk!
ks kyosuke's a piece of work. Gives registered users a bad name. What a punk.
ks kyosuke's a piece of work. Gives registered users a bad name. What a trolling punk.
Sheesh. He really did so that. K.S. Kyosuke's another /. trolling loser and coward.
K.S. Kyosuke's obviously a nerd loser then if he can't stand behind his words and back them up validly.
From a fair challenge like a chickenshit blowhard who tosses names & runs http://slashdot.org/comments.p...
K.S. Kyosuke's obviously ashamed since he's trying to downmod hide these (easy to do, logout, downmod etc.)
1 thing's certain. K.S. Kyosucky's using downmods to try hide your posts. I wonder why (yea, right).
Hehehe K.S. Kyosuke's reacts by trying to hide your posts with downmods (via sockpuppets perhaps?).
I don't think K.S. Kyosuke gets we see your posts thru his minusmods (nobody'd back a troll like him)
K.S. Kyosuke's reacting to your posts by downmodding them to hide his shame obviously.
I work in the industry. If the industry is upset, there is a good chance of me being upset :)
He's no man. He's a cowardly little troll worm that runs from a fair challenge after tossing names http://slashdot.org/comments.p...
How big of a troll worm K.S. Kyosuke is evading a challenge after tossing names http://slashdot.org/comments.p...
You have been able to get"free" or $59 or $99 smartphones for the past 5 years.
There is nothing at all new about this, they were last year models or strip down models. EXACTLY what they are proposing.
Next up on Slashdot we discuss something from 5 years ago as if it is going to happen soon!
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Running from a fair challenge like a chickenshit blowhard who tossed names & ran http://slashdot.org/comments.p...
it's the phones themselves. My first cell in 2000 last around 5 years, I could make calls, my battery lasted a week. In the past 3 years I've had to get a new phone every year. Not because I damaged or lost it or wanted the latest. But because the phone simply died just after the warranty ended. So who can afford to buy a 600 phone every year? Usually leads people breaking a contract, paying the 200 etf then reactivating to get a "free" 600 dollar phone.
Let's see, I had
Nexus S ( fell 1 foot off coffee table, LCD cracked)
Samsung S2. - motherboard died 4 times in 1 year
IPhone 4 - constant crap
I wish I would of kept my old LG flip phone. Worked for 5 years and nev
Evading a challenge like a chickenshit blowhard who tosses names & runs http://slashdot.org/comments.p...
I'm looking at these seriously. No contract- $50 a month for "unlimited"* calls, text, data.
The data is slowed after some amount.
That's $50 a month savings for me. So $500 a year (taking out the cost of replacing the phone every 2 years). $5000 per 10 years. That's a couple nice vacations or a fourth of a new car.
She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
There's also a good chance of you finding a better job with a new company that doesn't have a monopsony over hiring.
Or it could cause your company to have to develop new innovative products, which could be very good for you.
See, the thing is, if you're going to buy into the notion of a consumer-based, "free market" economy, you've got to see this kind of "creative destruction" as a positive. Personally, I see it all as a big dodge designed to redistribute wealth upwards, but that's a different discussion.
You are welcome on my lawn.
I used to be one of those people who had to have the latest flagship phone on a 2 year plan. Then I wised up, realized I could buy a $200 phone with a quad core cpu and plenty of storage via removable SD card, and pay $50 a month for service. My current moto android running kit kat is every bit as good as the latest iOS device and Samsung flagship, and I paid half the price. I think we are about to see a huge drop in price as more people come to the realization that many of the features on flagship phones these days are gimmicks that only 1% of users with actually take advantage of.
Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known. -Carl Sagan
It's only once the "$50 w/o contract" smartphone appears in first-world countries things start getting interesting.
Verizon doesn't like cheap phones. They move cheaper phones into the "Pre-paid Ghetto". I was interested in moving a cheap Verizon phone over to PagePlus Cellular, but Verizon won't let you do it (at least not without activating and waiting six months). I think this is part of the reason GSM networks get such a large variety of phones while CDMA get relatively few (some are good, of course, but the selection is lackluster). I don't know if adopting CSIM would help overcome this problem.
I think this is one area the FCC definitely has the power to regulate. The government leased Verizon the bandwidth/frequencies, but people can't access it due to Verizon's restrictive policies. Adding CSIM or at least BYOD policies would help people in Verizon-only areas. This wouldn't really be different than any of the FCC's television regulations. Hell, they could even regulated bandwidth pricing/restrictions.
(The Pre-paid restriction is such that people buy Boost Mobile CDMA Moto Gs and flash them to Verizon's network. If they could freely buy CDMA cell phones without Verizon's crap restrictions, they would. Their cheap flip phones cost $150 off contract. I bet the Moto E is going to be Pre-paid restricted as well.)
iOS sucks. Android sucks. Everybody totally loathes these two platforms but they're too chickenshit to admit it. And Microsoft isn't any better.
A typical (not even one-in-a-million genius) hobbyist can do better. It's only a matter of time until someone does. Where is our new Linus? Oh, don't like that name? Fine. Where's our new Bill or Steve (there, is that better?)?
From a fair challenge like a chickenshit blowhard who tosses names & runs http://slashdot.org/comments.p...
We don't give a shit about your beef with K.S.K. Stop spamming the comments and take your beef with him elsewhere. All this spamming makes you seem like more of a douche than K.S.K.
Indeed, there was a long article on precisely this matter in the WSJ last week.
Maybe it's now "rehash for nerds"?
The Mechanical Universe: http://www.learner.org/resourc...
The World of Chemistry : http://www.learner.org/resourc...
Not sure how they look on a cell phone screen, but they were both informative on regular TV and laptop screens. I watched both for fun twenty years ago (post college), and also the one on chemistry with my kid a few years back (the physics one was not as engaging though). I liked being able to rewind them to review some complex issue several times. They are not the same as doing hands-on lab exercises though.
There is also the Khan Academy now, which also has a supportive community and online problem sets in some areas. So, I'd say good things are possible. Of course, so much of schooling is boring if it is not what you want to be doing at the time. That's part of why I prefer learned-directed education as much as possible, including via homeschooling/unschooling.
A 21st century issue: the irony of technologies of abundance in the hands of those still thinking in terms of scarcity.
...or some other cryptocurrency. As these low-cost screens come on in the developing world, those users will want access to the modern, internationally-capable fee-free (very nearly) monetary system represented by cryptocurrencies. This may make 1st-world debate about the good or evil of bitcoin (and its ilk) largely irrelevant.
In President Clinton's case, the (D) may have stood for DINOSAUR: Democrat in name only, sorry-ass undercover Republican.
It's a sweet phone that a Macophile friend of mine said "It's a little slower than my 4S, but it seems easier to use..."
Maybe it's now "rehash for nerds"?
Lots of the articles submitted to Slashdot are linking to blog posts or other news outlets that are themselves linking to the "real" article already. So this is nothing new.
Data is painfully slow in Los Angeles where I live, OK in Hong Kong, but was blazing fast in the hills of Thailand. You put a few million people on wireless, stream some movies, add some VOIP, and you have a problem. Anywhere there a high population density, you've got issues. Unlimited data is a joke in LA, because you could stream all month long and not reach your cap. Ever try making a simple wireless call when the freeway is jammed? You can't because everyone else on the freeway is doing the same thing.
The fact that hardware is available cheaper and cheaper is not revolutionary in my opinion, but it is a deflationary situation. Consumers only need to wait and they will get more and better performance at the same cost.
Maybe with smartphones, there is the good-enough effect already, that a device under $200 is considered 'good-enough' by at least 85% of all customers, while at least 50% wolud consider something below $100 still good enough. It does depend on the operating-system and on other factors.
In my opinion it is not recommended at all to go for cheap stuff, that comes with an operating-system that is for free in the first place, but follows the data-capitalist business-model and has the user generate vanuable data for the vendor all the time. This makes people unhappy and discontent in the medium term.
Lets get real. A $200 phone in a contract is a ripoff. By the time you have finished the contact, in reality you might have paid for your phone between $1000 to $2000. Better buy a new one without a fixed contract and use it with a cheap operator/plan.
Can I go on record as giving not one single fuck if the "industry" is "upset"?
You want upset? Talk to my wife when she finds out I plan to spend my afternoon watching the Blackhawks, napping on the couch and playing Dark Souls II.
Don't put it in writing you barstard, my wife does occasionally look at my screen.
Phones are more than a device. They are now a fashion statement (white earphones) and the portal into an infrastructures (Android or iOS). The people who shop just price are not supporting either, and don't have much money anyway. Cheap phones enable non-banking finance and true capitalism. But, when a very few of the cheap phone owners make a decent living, one of their first purchases will be a high end Apple/Android -based phone. $100 smart phones will not significantly affect Apple. They may have a negative affect on some Android vendors. Proof point is the PC market.
http://www.amazon.com/ZTE-Vale...
Android 4.1.1 (yea! heartbleed vulnerable!). $50. Verizon network.
With Tracfone offering Android phones you know the time of cheap smartphones has come. They also have BYOP now.
Truly amazing how isolated americans of all types, including your lazy reporters, lazy tech writers, lazy tech analysts.
You people write this piece like you just discovered sliced bread. This has been happening in the third world for years, but you writers sitting on your behind just didnt know.
Is it news to you that its only the US that have 2 years contract? Yes it is. Most countries, and especially poor countries, the one you say will disrupt the market, have been buying phones outright for years, and using calling and data cards to use them.
What is going to take for everyone to realize that this bozos write stuff that they put out of their ears!
That is what I did when I went to Mexico. I used a VoIP service (voip.ms). I could call home no problem since therer was free WiFi in the resort. It is a prepaid service, so I put $20 before I left, and voilÃf!!