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BlackBerry to make one or two phones a year & Microsoft cuts back (Samsung take note)
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BlackBerry are to cut back on the amount of phones it makes a year. They will only make one or two handsets a year. Microsoft are also cutting back. Apple seem to be on a two phones a year strategy at the moment and its worked well for them. Samsung on the other hand makes 465482135456 handsets a year ;-) or it seems that way. They had also promised to cut back but they make a huge amount of variants.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/07/24/blackberry_vows_to_make_even_fewer_phones/
http://www.v3.co.uk/v3-uk/news/2416790/microsoft-planning-major-job-cuts-in-nokia-smartphone-division
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/07/24/blackberry_vows_to_make_even_fewer_phones/
http://www.v3.co.uk/v3-uk/news/2416790/microsoft-planning-major-job-cuts-in-nokia-smartphone-division
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But that could just mean it is deciding to release only 465482135455 handsets next year.
(And when it comes to tablets, Samsung has been even worse - especially given the fact people aren't buying tablets anymore)
I ranted at Sony Mobile for ages about releasing two flagships a year, and all signs were that this was going to/will happen, but even now Sony has released the pointless Z3+ here. A phone that has done a lot of harm to Sony's reputation because of the heat problems (irrespective of it really being the fault of Qualcomm).
Even though I write about tech, I'd love to see a huge slow down of product releases. People aren't rushing to upgrade smartphones anymore, unless they're hardcore fans and early adopters (which collectively is a small part of the industry these days).
Apparently they're consolidating their range, looking to have the exact same selection of handsets in every retailer instead of releasing the same handset with 3 different names/shells so that everyone gets an 'exclusive'.
GSMArena shows 20 Samsung handsets dated 2015 but that includes separate listings for the CDMA and dual-SIM variants of the likes of the S6 & Edge, so you could argue it's even less than that.
If you search for Samsung handsets dated 2014, it lists 59.
For other manufacturers they have a choice they can either release many models at each price point and risk consumer confusion or they can selectively release a small number of handsets and risk low sales if the handset doesn't appeal.
We seem to be at the point where the mass consumer finds very little to differentiate between the handsets and there is no new must have feature to sway the decision.
Amazon bravely/foolishly tried stirring things up with 3D and a live help service and that failed.
Marketing has been poor both HTC and Samsung have some good handsets at different price points and yet Samsung's adverts concentrate on pretty colour lights when the handset is upside down. HTC's marketing consists of sponsoring niche festivals and the country's grumpiest twitter feed. Sony haven't really tried at all.
The point of all this is that the manufacturers need someone to disrupt the market and reinvigorate it. Just releasing fewer handsets will not solve anything.
It's the ability to carry and use a portable computer (Nokia predicted this 'multimedia super computer' years ago and were ridiculed, but it turned out to be spot on).
As people start to carry a computer with them, they care mostly about the content on the device. And that makes the hardware just a tool.
We hear about networks becoming dumb pipes, but now smartphone makers are just dumb PC makers.
People may upgrade if their contract is up, but more people every day wise up to SIM only contracts, and they will if they lose or break their phone, but how many people are biting their nails with excitement over the next new phone?
Can even Apple maintain the huge level of sales now it's delivered the two devices with bigger screens that every existing owner had to get after waiting so long? Now they have it...
I actually wrote something about this recently. http://jmcomms.com/2015/07/10/smartphone-sales-are-falling-bad-for-the-industry-but-a-godsend-for-the-savvy-consumer/
It's very true that content is important to people. Where the handset comes in to its own is the creation of that content. If a manufacturer can come up with something new or significantly enhances the way we do existing content capture (eg photos) and that becomes a must have then they will disrupt the market and breathe life into it.
Otherwise handset sales are not going to pick up until a new technology 5G appears.
Most people will be happy with current 4G for ages, or not care about such speeds.
Cameras are pretty top notch. My G4 camera is insanely good, but I'll be honest and say that even a Moto G takes perfectly adequate photos and video for 99% of usage scenarios.
Faster CPUs and GPUs will always excite some, but now we hear of the thermal issues and the hit on battery life my but STILL we don't really have apps or games that need or use that power. For productivity, sure, but how many people do that?
Everyone is looking for the next big thing. Plenty of people hoped it would be wearables...