
Global smartphone market drops 9% in biggest ever fall - jansho
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/feb/02/global-smartphone-market-drops-biggest-fall-apple-china-iphone-x
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ksec
I think it is worth pointing out, China has literally 3 - 4x the market size
compared to 5 years ago. Apart from India, I think globally all the important
market has reached a point of near saturation.

The transcript in Apple conference call actually had a question similar. There
are still new customers coming into the iPhone ecosystem, but the number
suggest that users are now taking slightly longer cycle upgrading their
Phones. So while in terms of market usage it is still expanding slowly, the
unit sales is flat / stable.

For Android this is more of a problem, since there are larger number of people
switching to iPhone then vice versa.

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0ld
No wonder, there was no significant advances in the market since several
years, only bells and whistles

I personally do not feel any need to replace my current phone (even though
it's 4 years old) - the new one simply will not really add any significant
value to my everyday smartphone experience

Yesterday I've replaced the battery because the old one was slowly dying (cost
me around $8), and that's it

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spicymaki
I am not sure that is true. Smartphone core performance improvements have been
impressive. For example: just compare the geekbench mulitcore scores of the
iPhone 6+ released from late '14 to iPhone 8+ today: ~2400 to ~10200 relative
to battery scores of 1510 @ 2915mAh to 2764 @ 2675mAh. You are getting 4x core
performance and 1.8x battery performance with ~10% less battery capacity in
just 3 years. It is more than just bells and whistles.

~~~
ksec
Multicore*

That is like saying you can have 4x more performance with the 16 Core Ryzen
then your 4 Core Intel Chip.

The problem is multi core performance aren't as important as Single Core. And
these improvment has lots to do with node size.

When it is good enough, more performance dont sell.

~~~
robocat
Well, compare single core values then: iPhone 6 at 1360, iPhone 8 at 4217.

[https://browser.geekbench.com/ios-
benchmarks](https://browser.geekbench.com/ios-benchmarks)

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jansho
_with incremental increases in artificial intelligence now taking the
spotlight._

Hmm that does nothing for me. I wonder what the next big device is? Augmented
reality? (Yes there was Glass but maybe the next generation will be more
thoughtful.)

What I _personally_ fancy is a drone-phone with more human-like AI assistant.
Yes a talking, flying superphone. Inventors: please credit me, will ya ;)

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throwawaybbqed
Been done already. Sorry. Google for selfie drone. I think you can buy it from
the Apple store. Also, people have done drones inside phone cases too. Not
sure if this is a great business idea btw.

~~~
jansho
I’ve seen them, and still think there’s lots of space for innovation. I’m not
just thinking about its ability to fly, but as a dynamic, interactive AI
companion. Just how the smartphone now isn’t a purely functional device for
communication like a brick phone was.

Edit: maybe a scenario illustrates this best.

 _Me: “Mimi, what do you think of this? Is it right?”

Mimi peers, no doubt fancy AI tech whirring in the bg.

Mimi: “Looks good! I would also suggest recapping sohcahtoa.”

Ding-dong.

Me: “Mimi, can you get the parcel please.”_

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spicymaki
I think the market is saturated. Most people in rich countries are getting the
mobile experience they desire (anecdotally: just look at how addicted the
user-base is) even at the price points they desire. The phones provide so much
value that they do not need to be replaced as often.

