The media appears to be riding another wave of reports on “innovation” in the mobile industry, or lack thereof. Once again, Samsung has become a big target for this narrative after the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Galaxy Z Flip 4 got announced earlier in August. Numerous industry watchers, self-proclaimed leakers, small-time Twitter users, and smartphone customers in-between have accused Samsung of lacking the vision to innovate its latest mobile devices for 2022. And as you may have noticed already, the media is now turning that narrative around and is worried that Apple's next iPhones will also lack “innovation.” So, allow me to play the devil's advocate and say that I think it's all hogwash.
First of all, it seems that a large portion of the mobile industry (customers included) needs a better definition of the word “innovation” and perhaps a better understanding of what it implies. I believe there's a fine line between progress and innovation, and many people fail to see it.
It's only natural for customers to expect progress to be made with every new smartphone model released. Perhaps the new model could use a better SoC, brighter display, more battery life, and other expected yearly upgrades. But asking companies to “innovate” every few months only to have a new topic of conversation around the water cooler reflects a compulsive consumer attitude and a misunderstanding of how (and why) technologies evolve.
I believe you can force progress, but you cannot force innovation. Not only that but asking for innovations when they're not needed reflects an anti-consumer mindset. And to help you understand my view more clearly, here are a few examples of what progress and innovation mean, at least in my book:
- The first fingerprint scanner on a mobile device was an innovation. However, relocating the fingerprint sensor every year is nothing more than an attempt at progress and refinement.
- Under-display camera technology is innovative, but a different display notch design is not.
- A foldable display represents a huge technological leap. It's innovative by design. On the other hand, thinning out display bezels and/or increasing brightness can be described as progress. Not innovation.
- A periscope camera with optics that can move to generate 10x optical zoom in a minuscule area inside a smartphone is innovative. But a camera with more megapixels is merely a progressive step (some would argue it's regressive).
- A slightly different camera bump design and sensor arrangement is definitely not an innovation.
- Wireless Powershare, at its core, is an innovative idea. However, increasing the wattage of your wireless charging technology is more the result of technological progress than it is the fruit of a mindset centered on innovation.
Upgrading flagship phones every year has never been a necessity and it still isn't
As you might be able to extract from the list above, mobile technology evolves both in small steps and big leaps. But leaps (or innovations, if you will) can't happen one after another constantly. New technologies need time to mature once they hit the market and prove themselves before they can reach the next step or get replaced by new innovative ideas. A new technology needs to pay off before it can be replaced by something even better, and this process takes time. Some aspects are easier to improve, others require more time, creativity, resources, and investments across the supply chain.
Some innovative ideas can change the landscape forever. Other times, they don't, which means that developing new innovative concepts and putting them into practice costs money, time, and resources, and poses a risk of not getting the expected payoff. An example of this is Apple's 3D Touch. While innovative, it didn't leave a strong mark on the industry long-term. Perhaps it was due to lack of long-term progress?
Whatever the case may be, customers can and should expect progress to be made every year with every new smartphone generation that goes on sale. However, when it comes to asking for yearly innovations, it often feels like most customers (and let's not forget the people in the media) are chasing a bit of a “technology high” more so than they are looking for solutions to existing problems. Who doesn't like to unbox a new product, right?
However, if you're looking to purchase a new and innovative smartphone six or twelve months after you just bought your last flagship, and if you're accusing the manufacturer of not innovating enough to give you more reasons to spend more money, then perhaps the problem lies with you — the consumer — rather than the lack of innovation in the mobile industry. And let's face it: no other market is as obsessed with yearly progress and innovation (often unnecessarily so) as the mobile market. In most parts of the world, paying taxes on an owned house and car costs less per year than it costs to upgrade to a new flagship every 12 months. Let that sink in.
And if those yearly improvements aren't enough for you to commit to a new device, then maybe the market is trying to tell you something: perhaps you shouldn't buy a new phone now but, instead, wait a while longer before you jump on an upgrade. You might get a better “high” after waiting longer, and the payoff will be bigger. Maybe if you own a device that leaves no room for innovation in 2022, you win at the smartphone game. You already own the best, and no app or social situation can challenge you.
If you happen to own a 2021 or 2022 Samsung flagship phone, I'll leave you with a bit of a challenge: name the areas that you think are in dire need of innovation (not to be confused with the usual yearly progress, as stated before). What do you think your phone is really missing out on for it to need an innovative solution? And what kind of innovation would you be willing to pay big money for, even if you already own a 2021-2022 phone? (3.5mm headphone jack and microSD storage don't count, by the way)
If you're struggling and can't find an easy or realistic answer to these questions, then perhaps this is the perfect time to enjoy the current technologies instead of looking for the next innovations that haven't even had time to develop yet. Let progress run its course, and let's give OEMs space to come up with clever solutions to real problems rather than forcing their hands to invent unnecessarily every year out of fear that they'll fall from grace or that we'll think less of them.
