this post was submitted on 28 Sep 2023
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Smartphone sales down 22 percent in Q2, the worst performance in a decade::North American sales are bad for everyone, except, miraculously, Google.

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[–] [email protected] 161 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Who would have thought that the stagnation in development means people don't want to buy a new phone for a 2% better camera every year. I recon we gonna see anti repair hitting new heights tho cos u gotta squeeze money out of people somehow.

[–] [email protected] 110 points 1 year ago

Stagnation in development, wages, >$1000 flagship pricetags.

Rise in inflation, cost of living.

Weird!

[–] [email protected] 26 points 1 year ago (6 children)

Perhaps at that point the consumer will opt for the repairable options.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 1 year ago

Hmm its crazy that almost like rampant consumerism isn't the most efficient thing to do

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[–] [email protected] 127 points 1 year ago (1 children)

A sign that the smartphone has reached maturity, I guess. People don't feel the imperative to upgrade any more. That's good for the planet!

[–] [email protected] 39 points 1 year ago (15 children)

Time to start development on rectal computers.

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[–] [email protected] 106 points 1 year ago (11 children)

That's what happens when you keep increasing the price without adding value.

[–] [email protected] 62 points 1 year ago (6 children)

You mean removing a headphone jack, SD storage options, and removable batteries aren't added value? I know they claim it makes your phone more waterproof, but I don't wanna use my phone in the pool, I just wanna listen to some headphones without charging them.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 1 year ago (1 children)

No no no. Your phone might be waterproof, but we don't condone the usage of the phone near bodies of water. Intentional submersion of the phone voids the guarantee (actual language on the guarantee of a IP67 waterproof phone).

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[–] [email protected] 105 points 1 year ago (6 children)

Everyone is currently poor as shit.

[–] [email protected] 50 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Or, maybe, people realized that there is no reason to get a new phone every year.

[–] [email protected] 57 points 1 year ago (1 children)

They are not mutually exclusive, tbf.

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

poor people are poor as shit

rich people who are richer off the backs of poor people are not poor as shit

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[–] [email protected] 84 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Blame greedflation. Phones should be cheaper now, not thousands of dollars.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 year ago (4 children)

I told everyone that once contracts for cell phones were replaced with payment plans, companies would start gouging their customers with higher phone prices because the customers could now "afford" it.

Greedy ain't the right word imo.

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[–] altima_neo 80 points 1 year ago

Phone price keeps going up but my paycheck keeps going down with inflation

[–] [email protected] 68 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

They should really stop over saturating the market by releasing new models every year with little to no meaningful upgrades.

Even mid-range phones nowadays are good enough to last long after they stop receiving updates, it therefore makes little financial sense (for the average consumer) to buy the newest model every year, not even touching on the environmental impact.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 1 year ago (17 children)

They could try innovating, I couldn't give a shite about the cameras really. If I want to take proper photos I'll get a DSLR. I'll never want their smart processing of pics either.

Give me cool features again.

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[–] [email protected] 65 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (14 children)

We've hit the wall of diminishing returns. How much power do you need to run lemmy?

Ive got a 4k oled 144hrtz panel in my phone... to read lemmy.

And my pixel 6 is considered aging.

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[–] [email protected] 56 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (12 children)

If you're upgrading your device every single time a new device comes along, you're just chasing clout and status. They rarely, if ever, have significant performance upgrades or new features that make sense in upgrading when your current device is perfectly fine.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Phones also aren't special anymore. Like the days where phones were flashy and people needed the best/newest phones are gone. Everyone knows everyone has a phone, nobody cares what phone it is. It reminds me of like 2004-2008 when laptops were a big deal and then everyone had one and it became a tool and people stopped caring what you had.

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[–] [email protected] 46 points 1 year ago (2 children)

it's amazing that in capitalism a company has to always show numbers rising like there is no physical upper boundary. The most logical and efficient economic model

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[–] [email protected] 40 points 1 year ago

Good. We should be using our phones for longer.

[–] [email protected] 40 points 1 year ago

Have they considered releasing another hard to hold glass slab exactly like the previous one?

[–] [email protected] 39 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I understand 'worst sales' but 'worst performance' doesn't really fit. It's in my opinion this is a fantastic performance on the market. With right to repair, longer software support, some models with replaceable batteries, we can use the phones longer and make the industry more sustainable and consumer friendly. For the last years already, the model feature upgrades were marginal and it's fine that way.

In the future, I'd hope for further technical and regulatory development in that direction, resulting in further reduced annual sales numbers.

[–] [email protected] 29 points 1 year ago

When the whole western society has been force fed that "we must consume else our economy will collapse", not continously outselling (and throwing away barely year old work) is bad, this is the result.

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[–] [email protected] 38 points 1 year ago (4 children)

It's almost as if, they haven't fundamentally updated smartphones in almost a decade, and now they want $2000 for them.

Also, it's almost as if we've been in a recession for a year. Regardless of whether or not the government wants to call it a recession, we've had numerous back to back quarters with negative GDP growth. That's literally a recession.

[–] [email protected] 38 points 1 year ago (1 children)

They doubled the price while removing core features like headphone jacks and microSD.

The people who bought phones as a status symbol ran out of money and the people who are advanced users are sticking with their old phones that are simply better until planned obsolescence forces them to buy another older model.

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[–] [email protected] 32 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Phone plateaued 5 years ago for the average user.

I have a one plus 6. I'm on it for hours everyday. Reading. Browsing. Listening. No gaming. Lots of pictures.

My online data ran out long before my phone data - for pictures.

Phone runs fast. No more updates so nothing changes on me anymore.

I have zero reason to update. Would I like a better camera? Sure. But not for 1200$ I don't.

Could my battery last longer? Yeah. Sure. But I can replace it if I want for 20-40$

My next phone will probably be a refurbished last Gen phone. Nothing more then 400 I imagine.

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[–] gveltaine 31 points 1 year ago

Good. They should never have been that high anyways

[–] [email protected] 27 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Maybe they should bring back some form-factor diversity that niche consumer segments could gravitate toward, instead of every manufacturer targeting only the largest (and blandest) portion of the pie and ignoring the rest of it. If it's not clear, I am holding out for some decent "mini-sized" Android option.

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[–] [email protected] 27 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Every major company releases the same phone year after year and the only significant change is the price. I don't mind using the same phone for few years.

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[–] [email protected] 27 points 1 year ago

like desktop PCs

like DVD players?

no innovation, no need for a new device

apple seems to have quit innovating and google is just a fat fuck that is so lazy their core product search has gotten shit.

nokia nokia lol

[–] [email protected] 27 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Lmao stopped upgrading years ago...

When this 5 yo phone kicks the bucket, I'll upgrade to a 4 yo model for cheap

Literally not missing out on anything and saving a fucking bag doing it

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[–] [email protected] 27 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Waiting on replacement batteries to come back. Also 1k is a no way from me.

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[–] [email protected] 24 points 1 year ago

Partly because everybody's finances are stretched pretty thin, but also partly because phones got Good Enough like 6 years ago and so at this point you basically replace one when it breaks and replacement cost exceeds repair costs unless you're an enthusiast who demands the latest and greatest.... which is why the lucrously short support window for security patches on most Android devices is obscene. I know the technical reasons for them, but they're still unacceptable.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 year ago

finally some positive news.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Mine is 5 years old, a Samsung S9. Other then the shorter battery everything seems to work just fine.

[–] [email protected] 32 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Imagine if you could easily swap a new battery in. Heaven.

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[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 year ago

Well.. do we all need to change our perfectly fine, advanced and fast pocket computer every year just to have always the latest -> IMO No.

Good for the environment that it's a bad business year.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 year ago

Maybe because the only "innovations" that can be made to the smartphone is new cameras and new form factors, and only one of those is being focused on

[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (5 children)

Cause they keep making them shittier and shittier. Like I can't replace my battery like a fairphone, replace all the parts, have a microsd slot and fingerprint reader like the older phones. People complaining about size and weight. Check out the Samsung S5, what was fucking wrong with that? Worked fine and waterproof. Fucking bitchasses keep complaining about how it's not possible when it's been done for many years already.

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[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 year ago (5 children)

I used to buy a new Pixel every year, but for what? Holding out on my 5 while it still works.

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (5 children)

It is amusing how cell phone companies want people to think about their products like a fridge or video game console, yet are shocked when people seem to only want to buy a new one every 5-10 years or more when the old one breaks.

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