Why are modular mobile products unreliable?

You may have heard that a modular smartwatch called BLOCKS successfully raised more than $1.6 million on Kickstarter, which is not a low number. More than 5,000 users paid and hope to receive the goods in May 2016.

The modularity of BLOCKS is reflected in the fact that it only provides one dial and comes with 5 replaceable strap components, each of which contains only one or a group of functions, such as GPS, NFC, heart rate monitoring, etc. In addition, there are modules such as SIM card and additional battery. Overall, the components are fully functional, but you can't wear them on your hands at the same time.

The Project Ara modular phone presented at the Google I/O conference in 2014 aims to provide you with a replaceable screen, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, processor, etc. Although it could not be turned on at the time, it did not prevent it from being reported in various media.

Similarly, BLOCKS completed its crowdfunding goal of $250,000 in less than an hour after it went online. This shows that at least for now, the concept of modularity can still impress many users.

BLOCKS Modular Smartwatch

It sounds like modular phones and watches have their advantages. Functions can be freely combined and some components can be updated as needed to save costs... but in fact it may not be that simple.

This type of freely detachable mobile product is difficult to compare with the mobile phones and watches sold as a whole in terms of workmanship and finish. It may be thicker and have larger gaps. In terms of user experience, there will be extra steps for loading and unloading, which runs counter to the trend of simplifying operations. In addition, in order to obtain complete functions, you will have to carry extra modules with you. Although they are not large in size, they are likely to increase your burden.

Google's Project Ara modular phone delayed until next year

A more critical issue is that hardware vendors do not necessarily like modularity.

For components of mobile phones and watches, such as processors, screens, and cameras, there are only two or three suppliers to choose from. Apple, Samsung, and Xiaomi have a large number of stable orders for their products every year, and these large companies can get relatively low prices. If it were a small team with a small order volume, such as one that makes modular mobile phones, the price given by the supplier might be high, so there is no cost reduction, and the selling price of a single module would not have much advantage.

This is also why you can't buy an iPhone 6 display at the cost price of $45 (about 285 yuan).

Even faster than Project Ara, Dutch startup Fairphone will launch the world's first modular phone, Fairphone 2, next month. It will be priced at 3,660 yuan and equipped with its mid-range configuration, including Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 CPU, 2 GB memory, 8-megapixel camera, Android 5.1 system, etc. It seems to be more expensive than Android phones with the same configuration... Fairphone officials said that the target sales volume in 2016 is 100,000 units, and it may be difficult to get a bargain from suppliers.

However, none of these are as serious as the problem of missing software.

Apple and Google have almost occupied the entire market of mobile device systems. The systems and software are updated every year, and the requirements for hardware are constantly changing. If you upgrade a single module, you may not get an improvement in the overall product. The stuck parts will continue to be stuck, and the unused functions may still be unused. Although Project Ara is Google's own project, it may not be able to drive changes in the entire industry chain.

In addition to the system, game and application developers will also require you to use the latest hardware in order to provide the best performance.

If your devices are always in a combination of new and old, it is almost impossible to get the best user experience.

Perhaps you will recall the time when you assembled a computer, and how similar it is to these modular products today. You bought the CPU, graphics card, sound card, motherboard, network card, optical drive, case separately... No matter what, under the same configuration, you can save thousands of yuan compared to buying a branded computer, although the assembled computer may be uglier.

But on mobile devices such as mobile phones and watches, in addition to configuration, appearance, weight, and size have become very important. You have to be ready to show off your products to others at any time.

Modular mobile products may not be suitable for today's era. You don't seem to have any reason to use them as your main device. The only value they have is as toys for geeks, and they are attempts to differentiate themselves from the increasingly similar mobile devices.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.