Top Smartphone Makers Threatened By Spec. Dominance, “Innovation Taking Backseat To Pointless, Damaging Specification Willy-Waving
More importantly, there are so many rumors based on new releases that the competition for specs impede innovation at its core - this is easily evident in the smartphone and tablet PC markets.
There is a false belief that higher specs translates to the ideal product or the smartphone that is most suitable for a consumer. Here is where innovation comes in and challenges the industry's status quo.
Looking at Apple Inc. one of the most innovative tech firms of all time, they introduced the fingerprint id during the iPhone 5S release. Most recently, Samsung has included their version of a fingerprint security system in their new flagship phone, the Galaxy S5. Additionally, Samsung has also introduced other features like water proof, dust proof, mobile payment facilities.
At this juncture, it's a good time to ask if the rivalry between Apple and Samsung is driving specs off the charts or really innovating with consumers in mind.
According to an article by Sam Kieldson on Stuff, smartphone makers are 'losing sight of what's important' so that they can look good on paper. That by any means, is not the prupose of innovation. Putting it another way, that sounds more like 'blind innovation' to survive in a market that is increasingly pointing to lower demand for smartphone.
"It seems that true innovation is taking a backseat to pointless - or even damaging - specification willy-waving," wrote Kielsdson.
Recently, most Android manufacturers went through a revamp to optimize devices, automatically boosting performance while testing for benchmarks. However, consumers are aware that the boost is non-existant and the performance between the two phones are almost the same.
The new generation of smartphone manufacturers are looking to hook the customer who is switching from a feature mobile such as Nokia's cell phones to a first time user based market, particularly in underdeveloped countries. Smartphone Makeers Threatened By Spec. Dominance, "Iinnovation Taking Backseat To Pointless, Damaging Specification Willy-Waving
One remarkable innovation that defines this transition is the new open source Firefox OS, which will cost a mere $25 and compete against the more proprietary smartphone makers like Apple. With open source, there is no push for profit making, just customer satisfaction.
Firefox OS will provide an entirely new and complete community enhanced system for smartphones. This would translate into using open standards such as HTML5, Javasript, and open web APIs that connects directly with the mobile device hardware as well as the app market.
This will create a vacuum for big majors like Apple, in particular, because a free open sourced iOS community will be a threat to proprietary OSs like Google Chrome OS, Apple iOS. They will also impact other open source systems like Android, currently the archrival to Apple, Ubuntu Touch and Jolla's Sailfish.
Though not everyone is happy about a $25 Firefox OS-based smartphone, this concept in smartphones clearly addresses the transition of consumers from a feature-rich phone to a open source, inexpensive smartphone. And Mozilla has the perfect answer.
Recently, at the Mobile World Congress, CEO of Mozilla, Gary Kovacs, said "the devices matter less than what they're able to run; apps make or break a mobile platform these days, not hardware, and the advantage is that users don't have to install an app to use it. Mozilla is making the most of this with the search functionality built into Firefox OS, a core feature of the platform."
