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We've Reached Peak Smartphone (washingtonpost.com)

Posted by msmash on from the get-that-phone-out-of-my-face dept.

You don't really need a new smartphone. From a column on the Washington Post (may be paywalled): Sure, some of them squeeze more screen into a smaller form. The cameras keep getting better, if you look very close. And you had to live under a rock to miss the hoopla for Apple's 10th-anniversary iPhone X or the Samsung Galaxy S8. Many in the smartphone business were sure this latest crop would bring a "super cycle" of upgrades. But here's the reality: More and more of Americans have decided we don't need to upgrade every year. Or every other year. We're no longer locked into two-year contracts and phones are way sturdier than they used to be. And the new stuff just isn't that tantalizing even to me, a professional gadget guy. Holding onto our phones is better for our budgets, not to mention the environment. This just means we -- and phone makers -- need to start thinking of them more like cars. We may have reached peak smartphone. Global shipments slipped 0.1 percent in 2017 -- the first ever decline, according to research firm IDC. In the United States, smartphone shipments grew just 1.6 percent, the smallest increase ever. Back in 2015, Americans replaced their phones after 23.6 months, on average, according to research firm Kantar Worldpanel. By the end of 2017, we were holding onto them for 25.3 months.

1 of 222 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Needs a new direction by 0100010001010011 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I want it to run OpenBSD as well. I'll live with FreeBSD.

    That's it. Exactly what you said plus a shift from what ever Android has become under the direction of Google to a *BSD.

    My current phone is a Kyocera DuraPlus. And I still managed to break the screen.

    My mobile computing device with wifi and emergency cell service is a Galaxy Note 4. The only reason I upgraded was because my Note 3 fell out of my pocket and was taken out by my tractor's tiller because I was listening to FM radio on it. I have no interest in the Galaxy N+1 that they're on now. The battery is replaceable. It has Wifi, NFC, Bluetooth, FM Radio and a pen for notes. Plus I can plug it into USB OTG and hook it up to a TV. I would love to turn on a Hotspot on the DuraPlus and have a mobile datacenter.