Other Is Apple going to hit a Nokia moment?

[glambutnerdy]

Foldable phones aside, I can see the point of the article.

You can argue that Apple isn't just phones, but truthfully, it IS their stronghold, it's the main device that sucks us into their world. The macbook, the ipad, and especially the watch and airpods are pretty much designed to be extensions of the iPhone.

The iPhone has barely changed in 5 years and that is a problem. It is also a wider problem as a whole, phones in general have pretty much reached their "peak" in a sense which is slowing down innovation. We have the expanded to completely full screens now, there isn't much room for design revamps so all we are getting each consecutive year is 1. upgraded chip and 2. upgraded cameras.

It works now but IMO, I believe there is a gap in the phone market, there will probably be a breakthrough of an all new and innovative device eventually. Just like the iPhone in 2008. People get bored, people like getting new and exciting things. I don't know if it will be flip phones, honestly I doubt it, the issue is is that Apple doesn't seem to be in tune to catch up and that could be a problem, especially for a company who's built itself off it's phones 'prestige' and 'luxury' quality. If the iPhone falls, that could have a knock on affect on the aforementioned products too.

They also aren't making wise decisions branching out (gimmicky headsets the average consumer doesn't care about, especially not in this post-pandemic world) so IDK.

 

[PsykX]

Foldable phones are the next 3D TVs. We heard of those for 2-3 years and then it faded out.

 

[dwaltwhit]

I think we will see a folding/flipping iPhone at some point. I am not in that target demographic because I don't consume much video personally and have no need for a larger device. I have a 14 Pro and that is plenty big enough for me. As someone that works with hundreds of teens a day, I can tell you that the vast majority of them would be in the target demo for this.

 

[Analog Kid]

No, Apple won't experience a Nokia moment. They're too big, diversified, and invested in R&D. They may very well face a Microsoft moment, where the market realizes for some period of time that they're not a growth business anymore. But, as we've seen, these kinds of enormous enterprises don't become irrelevant very quickly. Microsoft had time to regroup and return to the forefront.

Intel may wind up closer to Nokia-- they don't have the diversity they need to survive if x86 falls out of fashion.

Does Google become Yahoo! if they don't pivot their search business to the new AI world quickly enough? They have their fingers in a lot of pies, but I'm not sure any of those other pies have profits associated with them anytime soon... Maybe they'd be able to structure their Android unit to become more profitable at the risk of some big players forking the code.

 

[barkomatic]

We still don't know what the long-term viability of foldables is given Samsung always offer suspiciously good trade-ins for annual upgraders. The more public users of foldabls (eg MrMobile) are constantly upgrading and changing. I'd like to see reports from anyone who is still using a Z-Fold 1 after all these years as their daily phone.

This is one of the benefits of owning a Samsung foldable. When they first launch, you can usually get a free storage upgrade, a little money off and a ridiculously large trade in value if you already have a Samsung foldable making the cost to upgrade relatively small--but I don't how long they can keep this up.

The folding is definitely not just a gimmick. There is a real benefit in having a full size device that folds down into a smaller footprint for your pocket or bag. This will become even more of a feature as phones just get bigger--like the iPhone Pro 16s.

That being said, I don't think the folding by itself is enough to be a game changer. The cameras are a little lacking on folding phones and the folded screen is more fragile--though it protected if you keep it folded. My iPhone is still my daily device.

 

[AirpodsNow]

In the article below:
"Apple may see a drop in iPhone shipments this year, due in part to the growing popularity of foldable phones, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says."

Apple iPhone shipments may see 'significant decline' in 2024, analyst says

Apple may see a drop in iPhone shipments this year, due in part to the growing popularity of foldable phones, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says.

www.cnbc.com

Remember when everyone was offering clamshell phones and Nokia stubbornly stuck with the candy bar? We're in a slightly different era now but I'm seeing more and more people carrying flip phones.

The article states that Apple became the top selling smartphone in China…. And then argues that Huawei sees increase demand for folding phones, and Samsung (which have folding phones) see increase in sales most likely due to their AI features.

I don't follow the logic. Apple sold more last year than others so it must do something better than competition. To argue a specific minority form factor they don’t sell to speculate their demise seems a bit overblown

 

[Seamaster]

As a coda to this thread, HMD have just announced they're not going to continue their licensing of the zombie Nokia brand—for smartphones at any rate. I suspect they'll still punt their dismal range of cheap Chinese "Nokia" dumbphones, which still sell in vast numbers in places like India. But the rise and fall of Nokia as a handset brand will be taught in business schools for years to come.

 

[Al Rukh]

Foldable phones aside, I can see the point of the article.

You can argue that Apple isn't just phones, but truthfully, it IS their stronghold, it's the main device that sucks us into their world. The macbook, the ipad, and especially the watch and airpods are pretty much designed to be extensions of the iPhone.

The iPhone has barely changed in 5 years and that is a problem. It is also a wider problem as a whole, phones in general have pretty much reached their "peak" in a sense which is slowing down innovation. We have the expanded to completely full screens now, there isn't much room for design revamps so all we are getting each consecutive year is 1. upgraded chip and 2. upgraded cameras.

It works now but IMO, I believe there is a gap in the phone market, there will probably be a breakthrough of an all new and innovative device eventually. Just like the iPhone in 2008. People get bored, people like getting new and exciting things. I don't know if it will be flip phones, honestly I doubt it, the issue is is that Apple doesn't seem to be in tune to catch up and that could be a problem, especially for a company who's built itself off it's phones 'prestige' and 'luxury' quality. If the iPhone falls, that could have a knock on affect on the aforementioned products too.

They also aren't making wise decisions branching out (gimmicky headsets the average consumer doesn't care about, especially not in this post-pandemic world) so IDK.

I share your sentiments.

All these talks about increased interests in foldable smartphones - how many people are actually buying it? They cost much more than a conventional smartphone and I highly doubt foldables will become mainstream.

We have reached a point where we need a 2007 Macworld moment. Someone to tell us that there is another way to use our phones. Will Apple be the one doing it (again)? I’m not sure but that’s where we are now. Even if Apple ships less iPhones, this trend will be applicable across the industry as a whole. Apple will be silly to be hoping that smartphone sales are going to pick up from here on.

 

[Al Rukh]

Foldable phones are the next 3D TVs. We heard of those for 2-3 years and then it faded out.

The only difference is companies like Samsung are rich enough to make less margins on their foldables, as long as their mainstream lineup sales within their projection. I think foldables will be out there for long but it only caters for those who are looking for that cool factor and status symbol.

 

[ErikGrim]

There's nothing cool about flip phones lol

 

[nj-morris]

Foldable phones are the fort of thing we were blown away by when they were first conceptualised, button that they're actually on the market a lot of people are catching on to the fact that they add very little value. Just my opinion but I think that when unfolded, the screen is unwieldy when using one hand, cramped with two, it's not nearly big enough to do anything I'd do with the same level of convenience as on a tablet, and the squarish aspect ratio makes absolutely zero sense from an ergonomic perspective. On top of that, again just my opinion, the ones on the market at the moment are ugly as hell folded or unfolded.