Party like it's 2014, if you can – that's the last time smartphone sales were this low

The Register ^

[FarCenter]

Sorry to bring you another item of news focusing on indicators of poor economic conditions, but analyst outfit Counterpoint Research has just revealed data that finds sales of smartphones have dipped to levels not seen since 2014.

Ahhhh 2014: the year in which Apple debuted 4G in the iPhone 6 and gave the world its first Watch, the Heartbleed flaw in OpenSSL gave us a glimpse of a future in which bugs had brands and widely-used FOSS projects could make the whole world stop to patch, and the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie introduced the audio cassette to a whole new generation. Around 300 million smartphones shipped during that year's third quarter – the same number that made it out the factory gate this year.

"Most major vendors continued experiencing annual shipment declines in the third quarter of 2022. Russia's escalating war in Ukraine, ongoing China-US political distrust and tensions, growing inflationary pressures across regions, a growing fear of recession, and weakening national currencies, all caused a further dent in consumer sentiment, hitting already weakened demand," said Counterpoint senior analyst Harmeet Singh Walia. "This is also adding to a slow but sustained lengthening of smartphone replacement cycles with smartphones becoming more durable and as technology advancement slows."

[MtnClimber]

Who wouldn’t want a personal tracking device that the government can use to spy on you?

[Brian Griffin]

And why would anybody want to replace their existing smartphone (except if it was damaged, destroyed, lost or stolen)?

[Brian Griffin]

“can use”

does use

[cuban leaf]

And why would anybody want to replace their existing smartphone (except if it was damaged, destroyed, lost or stolen)?

---

Yep. I replace a phone when it quits working. That can be years. My wife finally replaced her iPhone 6 because it was becoming unstable. It was also on its second battery that was not giving much time.

[SpaceBar]

Change is at a maximum before a system reaches equilibrium.

[Brian Griffin]

A fast, responsive, secure, stable, Windows compatible PC would draw my interest and probably my money.

[EEGator]

“And why would anybody want to replace their existing smartphone (except if it was damaged, destroyed, lost or stolen)?”

To blow money before the incoming global economic depression?...

[crusty old prospector]

I buy the older iPhone models like 7, 8, or 10 off of eBay for $300 or so. My wife still wants the home button and those are the last ones.

[Chode]

did some of them realize they don’t need a new phone EVERY YEAR???

[stars & stripes forever]

Waiting in line to replace my broken Samsung. 😞

They’re really pushing 5g. Hopefully I can get a 4g model.

[Dr. Sivana]

I buy the older iPhone models like 7, 8, or 10 off of eBay for $300 or so.

My work phone was an iPhone 7. When I was laid off, I tried a Linux PinePhone. That didn’t work out so I got an iPhone 7 on Craigslist for $100, works great.

[MtnClimber]

If the left ever gets a “Social Credit Score” system implemented here (like the one Google helped implement in China), the things people used their smart phones for and the things they said in the vicinity of the phone will come back to haunt them.

[dforest]

If we wanted survival we would throw every one of these devices into a burning pit.

These are more dangerous than booze and cigarettes.

[devane617]

“And why would anybody want to replace their existing smartphone...”

I agree. My iPhone 7 does everything that I want and is in good shape.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

I was watching a video of an event filmed in 2007. What really stood out to me was there were no morons doing selfies and trying to "capture the moment" with their tracking devices. They were just enjoying the wedding.

Less of nitwit phones might be a good thing.

[PAR35]

I’m surprised more folks haven’t jumped to 5G. Just because there’s very little 5G service available, I would have thought more ‘cool’ folks would have jumped on that bandwagon.

[UB355]

Sometimes storage is a consideration

[AnotherUnixGeek]

Smartphones have become a very staid, slow evolving technology. There’s no excitement when Google rolls out the Pixel 7 or Apple rolls out the iPhone 14 - just small, incremental improvements. The “big” feature for the iPhone 15 next year is likely to be USB-C support, driven by government mandate and not by any innovation.

[apillar]

I think a lot of it is the novelty has wore off and smartphones have just a fact of life instead of the amazing cool new invention. Also, instead of smartphones seeing major additions and changes between generations, the changes have largely become minor upgrades.

I used to rush out and guy the latest and greatest iPhone every year, but I'm still using iPhone 10 I got in 2017. I've looked at the newer models when they've been released and just haven't seen any new amazing feature that makes me want to upgrade.