Subtitles section Play video
-
Smartphones have altered our daily life so much that many don't remember life before them.
-
There are an estimated 3 billion smartphone users worldwide.
-
Over the past decade, we've seen phones get larger, faster and loaded with more features
-
like fingerprint technology, improved cameras and digital assistants.
-
But the pace of innovation is slowing.
-
And smartphone sales are declining.
-
Manufacturers are scrambling to find new ways to conjure up excitement.
-
This is your Bloomberg QuickTake on the future of smartphones.
-
In 2007, Apple's iPhone ushered in the modern era of smartphones.
-
At the time, text messages and slow data were about all most wireless networks could handle.
-
Then carriers moved to 4G, download speeds got faster,
-
phones got more sophisticated and growth exploded, surging 40% in 2013.
-
But 2017 saw the first contraction -
-
and the trend continued into 2018.
-
Devices aren't making the big, innovative leaps they used to.
-
Phones are also getting more durable.
-
And some of the biggest markets for smartphones are reaching saturation.
-
Most Chinese have a smartphone now.
-
So what will be the next growth driver?
-
Some of the world's biggest smartphone makers seem to think it will be the foldable screen,
-
which doubles the size of the display without making the phone gigantic.
-
Companies like Samsung, Huawei and Xiaomi are betting on it, but the technology isn't quite there.
-
In April, Samsung had to delay the launch of its new foldable phone
-
after some early users of the $2000 Galaxy Fold reported that it failed after only a few days of use.
-
The screen stopped working after people peeled off a special film that looked just like a screen protector.
-
It was a pretty devastating blow
-
so early in the process of releasing foldable phones.
-
What was unique about the Samsung Fold is it folded inwards, like a book.
-
Whereas Huawei have brought out a foldable phone that folds outwards,
-
so the screen is actually on the outside.
-
What that means is not folding as hard,
-
not so much of a crease down the middle
-
as you have on the Samsung phone.
-
So while companies are experimenting with
-
how they're going to design these devices,
-
they might start going more for the Huawei option.
-
Or maybe the game changer will be 5G
-
- though its rollout could be slowed by geopolitics and security concerns.
-
5G networks promise to be so fast
-
that it would only take a few seconds to download a feature-length movie.
-
Samsung has released a 5G phone in South Korea and Huawei also has one in the works.
-
What it will also do is support all the other technology that's emerging.
-
For driverless cars to work, the world is counting on the capacity for wireless networks to carry that data.
-
For the Internet of Things to work, which allows you to connect your fridge to the internet
-
or remote control the lights in your house when you're not there,
-
that requires a lot of bandwidth, a lot of data.
-
But experience has shown that
-
it usually takes more than one improvement to get people to shell out for an upgrade.
-
Even when we went from 2G to 3G to 4G,
-
it was a combination of things.
-
The ability to download the data made all these extra uses by the consumer so much more possible.
-
But not everyone uses their phone the same way.
-
So what you need to see is a capacity for people to start using their phones
-
in new and different ways to justify spending more money.