Key Takeaways
- Smartphone market range in 2014 laid the inspiration for immediately’s tech giants, regardless of most of the innovators now not present.
- Even with groundbreaking improvements, firms should adapt to altering market tendencies to reach the long term.
- Apple’s success with the iPhone 6 sequence highlights the significance of figuring out when to combine new applied sciences for market success.
Because the famend English poet William Blake as soon as mentioned, “hindsight is an excellent factor,” and this phrase holds true not just for varied facets of our lives but additionally for know-how and, sure, even smartphones. It was a really completely different playground for smartphones a decade in the past. Within the yr 2014, smartphone innovation was at its peak and, in reality, there have been many extra smartphone makers out there in comparison with now.
However, in the event you see it in hindsight, the improvements that have been launched a decade in the past have laid the inspiration for the tech we take pleasure in immediately. Prior to now ten years, we have witnessed so many smartphones and even new classes of client know-how emerge, however, because it seems, 2014 was a really essential yr for smartphones. We took a visit down reminiscence lane and revisited the perfect smartphones from a decade in the past, solely to find a bittersweet fact.
Smartphone market was extra various again then
Again in 2014, the smartphone market was very aggressive. In contrast to immediately, in 2024, we discover solely a handful of flagship makers, particularly within the US. Nevertheless, again then, it was a distinct story altogether. Nokia, Blackberry, HTC, LG, and Sony have been outstanding gamers, whereas OnePlus had simply launched its first-ever smartphone, the OnePlus One. There have been a whole lot of smartphone choices available on the market.
Nokia centered on Home windows Telephone, whereas Blackberry remained a favourite amongst enterprise professionals. Apple continued to guide the pack in high quality, whereas Samsung pushed boundaries with improvements like stylus-equipped telephones, curved screens, and top-notch cameras. HTC made our favourite smartphone of all time, whereas firms like LG and Sony have been additionally not far behind. Competitors was fierce, to say the least.
All innovators at the moment are (or are on the point of) being useless
Nevertheless, because the saying goes, “all good issues should come to an finish.” Immediately, most of the smartphone manufacturers talked about above stop to exist. However what went flawed? What can we be taught from their destiny? However earlier than we delve into all of this, let’s first revisit what these firms have been as much as again then.
On the time, Motorola had simply launched its Moto X (2nd Gen) — a tool that was all about providing a stock-like Android expertise on the within and providing hardware-level customization on the surface. Motorola had its Moto Maker web site (through XDA-Builders) whereby you may go and customise your Moto X right down to the final element. You can customise the colour of your cellphone to the kind of materials used for the again and even engrave textual content on the again of your cellphone. This wasn’t obtainable on any smartphone obtainable on the time.
HTC launched some of the iconic smartphones of the previous decade, the HTC One M8. The gadget impressed the world with its industrial but premium design and the twin stereo speaker on the entrance, offering an audio expertise that was unmatched on the time. However that wasn’t all. HTC One M8 was the primary commercially bought smartphone to make use of a secondary 2MP depth sensor together with the first digicam to create a 3D map and use that knowledge to simulate bokeh.
The LG G3 was one other revolutionary smartphone of 2014, bringing quad HD shows to the Android world for the primary time. It was among the finest flagship smartphones of 2014, that includes essentially the most highly effective {hardware} obtainable, and set a brand new normal with its quad HD display screen. The Nokia Lumia 1520 was one other notable gadget of 2014, marking it as the primary Home windows Telephone with a phablet-sized show. Whereas the cellphone was total fairly spectacular, the Home windows Telephone OS failed to totally capitalize on the gadget’s massive display screen potential.
What have been the most important gamers like Apple and Samsung as much as in 2014? Samsung had simply launched the Galaxy Be aware 4, providing the perfect Android expertise with highly effective {hardware}, customizable but feature-rich software program, and wonderful cameras, all at a aggressive worth level — a formulation that defines its present lineup thus far. However what about Apple?
Innovation alone doesn’t assure success
For a very long time, Apple mentioned that it would not make a big-screen smartphone. In actual fact, again in 2010, then-CEO Steve Jobs even mentioned throughout a press convention that “nobody’s going to purchase a giant cellphone.” Throughout the convention, he mentioned that it was troublesome to get your hand round it and “nobody goes to purchase that.” However have a look at what Apple did in 2014 when it launched the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.
It moved from a 4-inch display screen on the iPhone 5s to larger 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch shows on the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, respectively. Regardless of the preliminary skepticism, the iPhone 6 sequence turned Apple’s best-selling iPhone thus far. Individuals have been actually fascinated by a big-screen iPhone, and regardless of its “bendgate” controversy — whereby some customers reported that their iPhone 6/6 Plus had bent when carrying it in tight pockets — it stays the corporate’s finest product thus far.
So, what is the takeaway from all of this? It is clear that innovation alone does not assure success. Whereas a number of the firms talked about above have been main the pack when it got here to smartphone innovation, they failed to know the altering market tendencies and buyer preferences. In distinction, the businesses that tailored to altering markets and built-in the correct applied sciences on the proper time, emerged as the largest winners of the period and nonetheless stay related to this date.
Innovation stays the important thing to driving the business ahead — there is no denying that. The tried and examined improvements from earlier manufacturers have paved the best way for what we’ve immediately. Nevertheless, figuring out when to combine these improvements on the proper time is equally vital.
Listed here are the perfect telephones you should purchase immediately!
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iPhone 15 Professional
The iPhone 15 Professional is the brand new Professional sequence flagship from Apple. It is geared up with the brand new Apple A17 Professional chipset and 8GB of RAM. It is available in new colours, and it has an much more highly effective digicam setup and a refined design.
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Samsung Galaxy S24 Extremely
$1145 $1300 Save $155
The Samsung Galaxy S24 Extremely incorporates a 6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X show, a robust Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip with as much as 1TB of storage, and a quad digicam setup. The cellphone comes with Galaxy AI, bringing new superior options to the desk.
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Google Pixel 8 Professional
$749 $999 Save $250
The Google Pixel 8 Professional, that includes the third-generation Tensor G3, is Google’s flagship cellphone for 2023. It introduces some small enhancements total, a brand-new processor to set it aside, a thermometer sensor, and guarantees an impressive smartphone digicam expertise.
