The year 2018 was not considered a ‘good’ one for the smartphone industry and for the first time in many years, the growth for the same began to gradually slow down.
According to industry experts, the smartphone industry began to go downhill in February when Gartner recorded its first year-over-year decline since it began tracking the category after which several companies saw their stocks take a hit.
Additionally, users are not upgrading as fast as they used to and are finding the flagship phones better – eliminating the need to continually upgrade.
Nevertheless, the smartphone manufacturers are not the ones to give up and even a bad year can stop them from trying. In fact, in the next calendar year, we can expect more innovating features from the smartphone manufacturers. Here, let’s take a look at some of the emerging trends from the industry.
China Stringer Network / Reuters
Plenty of publications have named 2019 as ‘The year of 5G’, but of course, it is too soon. However, a shipment of the 5G handset is scheduled to hit the market in the coming years with leading companies such as OnePlus, LG, Verizon, HTC, and Sprint committing to releasing their own 5G versions.
Samsung, being Samsung has promised two models for the 5G feature while we were surprised to see Apple’s name missing from the list. According to the grapevine, Apple is working on a 5G handset that is set to be released in 2020.
Although we did find foldable phones unimpressive – they are certainly on the list of manufacturers for the coming year.
From the Royole to Samsung’s prototype, manufacturers are showing off their versions of foldable smartphones at various events. But just like 5G, it is too early to say how the consumers will perceive the ‘differently’ designed phones.
Make way for pinholes, Bezels. The new pinhole/punch design is showing up on a number of phones including Samsung, Oppo, Huawei, and Google’s Pixel 3.
As of now, it is safe to say that we will continue to see the designs in many upcoming models as well.
When Apple introduced the face-scanning feature, we assumed that fingerprint scanners would be shown the doors. Apparently, the 3D face scan is easy to spoof and from the looks of it, the in-display fingerprint scanners aren’t’ going away anytime soon.
Smartphone cameras are pretty good across the board these days and most users are content with their results. Well, smartphone manufacturers are simply adding more to the equation in order to enhance the users-experience.
For example, the LG V40 ThinQ comes with two front and three rear-facing cameras. The three on the back are standard, super wide-angle and 2x optical zoom for capturing different types of images.
On the contrary, companies will also have to invest in several software to bring out the best camera features in their phones and existing components.
These and many more surprises await us in the year 2019. Stay tuned with us at Digital Information World for more updates on the smartphone trends for the next year.
Read Next: Which Smartphone Emits The Most And Least Radiation — Samsung, iPhone, Google Pixel, Xiaomi, Nokia, OnePlus or Huawei?
According to industry experts, the smartphone industry began to go downhill in February when Gartner recorded its first year-over-year decline since it began tracking the category after which several companies saw their stocks take a hit.
Additionally, users are not upgrading as fast as they used to and are finding the flagship phones better – eliminating the need to continually upgrade.
Nevertheless, the smartphone manufacturers are not the ones to give up and even a bad year can stop them from trying. In fact, in the next calendar year, we can expect more innovating features from the smartphone manufacturers. Here, let’s take a look at some of the emerging trends from the industry.
Fifth Generation of Cellular Mobile Communications (5G)
China Stringer Network / Reuters
Plenty of publications have named 2019 as ‘The year of 5G’, but of course, it is too soon. However, a shipment of the 5G handset is scheduled to hit the market in the coming years with leading companies such as OnePlus, LG, Verizon, HTC, and Sprint committing to releasing their own 5G versions.
Samsung, being Samsung has promised two models for the 5G feature while we were surprised to see Apple’s name missing from the list. According to the grapevine, Apple is working on a 5G handset that is set to be released in 2020.
Related: Smartphone Etiquette Is Still A Work In Progress [Infographic]When fully rolled out, the 5G phones are expected to be game-changing for the smartphone industry. However, not much can be said until it is launched. Right!
Foldable Devices
Although we did find foldable phones unimpressive – they are certainly on the list of manufacturers for the coming year.
From the Royole to Samsung’s prototype, manufacturers are showing off their versions of foldable smartphones at various events. But just like 5G, it is too early to say how the consumers will perceive the ‘differently’ designed phones.
Pinholes
Make way for pinholes, Bezels. The new pinhole/punch design is showing up on a number of phones including Samsung, Oppo, Huawei, and Google’s Pixel 3.
As of now, it is safe to say that we will continue to see the designs in many upcoming models as well.
Embedded Fingerprint Readers
When Apple introduced the face-scanning feature, we assumed that fingerprint scanners would be shown the doors. Apparently, the 3D face scan is easy to spoof and from the looks of it, the in-display fingerprint scanners aren’t’ going away anytime soon.
Multiple Cameras/Lenses
Smartphone cameras are pretty good across the board these days and most users are content with their results. Well, smartphone manufacturers are simply adding more to the equation in order to enhance the users-experience.
For example, the LG V40 ThinQ comes with two front and three rear-facing cameras. The three on the back are standard, super wide-angle and 2x optical zoom for capturing different types of images.
On the contrary, companies will also have to invest in several software to bring out the best camera features in their phones and existing components.
These and many more surprises await us in the year 2019. Stay tuned with us at Digital Information World for more updates on the smartphone trends for the next year.
Read Next: Which Smartphone Emits The Most And Least Radiation — Samsung, iPhone, Google Pixel, Xiaomi, Nokia, OnePlus or Huawei?
