Apple gave, Tuesday, September 14, its fourteenth smartphone high mass in line with the founding event of 2007 orchestrated by Steve Jobs, a conference from which its competitors have been greatly inspired since. But while the Apple brand has made some announcements – photo sensors and enlarged battery in particular – the enthusiasm of users for new smartphones from Apple and its competitors seems to be eroding.
After years of growth, and without taking into account the year 2020 marked by the Covid-19 pandemic, the analysis firms GFK and Counterpoint both note a slow decline in the number of smartphones sold from 2016 to 2019 in France, around 15% in total over this period. The French also kept their mobile much longer in 2019 than in 2013: six to twelve months more, according to studies.
For Ranjit Atwal, analyst at Gartner, the absence of really striking new features is the key to this disaffection:
” For individuals, innovation is the very foundation of smartphone replacement strategies. When it is present, it accelerates the market. But in recent years, innovation has become very incremental, it does not bring anything that can excite consumers. “
Questionable innovations and excessive prices
A sentiment widely shared by readers who responded to the call for testimonials published by The world, evoking their nostalgia for a golden age of the smartphone, located somewhere between 2007 and 2015. Thomas judges as well as “ technology was nascent at the start of the 2010 decade. Crazy innovations and curious attempts were in order. Today it gives way to a standardized device: a cold metal board with a weak character ”. For Clément, the latest models produced “All look more or less alike, the technologies are globally equal”. For Mickaël, the only thing that remains are the marketing formulas:
“It’s always the same phony expressions that come up, like ‘amazing’ [formidable]. “
In smartphone tests carried out in World, if we can welcome some positive developments such as the increased durability of the batteries, there has indeed been no real major innovation since 2016, year when Samsung marketed a Galaxy S7 Edge with curved edges more comfortable in hand, and 2017, year in which Apple allowed smartphones to be unlocked by simply presenting their face via Face ID. For now, 5G is a disappointment, in France and abroad. “For the general public, this is neither a revolution nor a selling point”, Judge Jan Stryjak, analyst at Counterpoint.
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