Why are people no longer excited about upgrading their smartphones?

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Smartphones have become so boring that it doesn’t really matter whether you upgrade to a flagship device or stick with a mid-range one. It seems that the smartphone itself is stuck in the past, struggling to evolve.

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This has weakened global smartphone sales, as more people are holding on to their phones for longer periods. This, in itself, indicates that consumers no longer feel the need to upgrade their smartphones annually, as they used to.

The loss of enthusiasm

This is the reality today, and the industry has begun to acknowledge it. The excitement of owning a new smartphone no longer feels the same as it did 5 or 6 years ago. Even brands no longer seem as enthusiastic during new launch events.

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Product launches that were once heavily promoted now seem exaggerated and often unimpressive. Consumers can easily predict what will be launched, how the next flagship smartphone will be presented, and its features before the debut.

This, of course, has killed the excitement associated with new smartphone launches.

During launches, the focus is so little on the product that no one remembers it once the presentation is over. In some cases, you even wonder what makes this smartphone different from last year’s model and why the company bothered to launch a successor when the differences are minimal.

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Nothing spectacular

According to many followers, smartphones have become dull and boring, all looking similar, with luxurious glass and aluminum finishes, large OLED screens, and DSLR-like cameras.

Even if you don’t buy a new smartphone or upgrade for years, you won’t notice a significant difference in performance. You might get a slight camera upgrade, but nothing spectacular that would force you to upgrade to a new model.

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The days of groundbreaking designs are gone. Brands have become so lazy that they produce the same smartphone design every year with a new name, yet still expect people to get excited. We’ve reached a point where if a company adds a new physical button to a smartphone or changes the position of the camera, we call it innovation.

Any minor change in the physical design or camera performance improvement is seen as an upgrade. Even foldable phones don’t offer any real value to consumers. The experience of using a foldable smartphone isn’t much different from a non-foldable one.

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Will the bold era return?

The truth remains that the era of big features on smartphones is over. It is not yet clear if a revolutionary step could bring back the excitement to smartphones. But so far, any AI features that seem useful in some scenarios clearly won’t change the way we use our phones. Nevertheless, smartphone brands will do their best to incorporate generative AI into their devices and market it as the rebirth of smartphones.

Knowing that the annual smartphone cycle won’t end anytime soon, even if it’s getting boring. Smartphones will remain part of our lives for the next few years, coexisting with whatever might replace them, like augmented reality glasses, a small screen-less device controlled by voice, or smartwatches. So, will the bold era return when smartphones tried to do new things?

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