The Big Hangup: Why the Future Is Not Just Your Phone
Posted on January 14, 2019
WALL STREET JOURNAL – Jan 13 – Steve Jobs took to a stage a dozen years ago this week to introduce the first Apple iPhone. It changed the way people communicated, the technology world reoriented around the smartphone, supplanting the personal computer, MP3 players, the digital camera and maps. And the mobile economy was born. Today, it looks like the era of smartphone supremacy is starting to wane. The devices aren't going away any time soon, but the global sales slump. Apple and Samsung risk seeing their high-end phones become commoditized, as Chinese rivals Huawei and Xiaomi prove capable of making similar devices at lower prices. In 2015, annual smartphone shipments grew at a double-digit clip. Those days are over: The industry saw its first declines at the end of 2017 and remained negative all last year. The challenge tech companies, wireless carriers and device makers now face is birthing the next society-shifting technology.
