Reuters: Mobile phone innovation has reached its end or may be replaced by other products

Reuters published an article today saying that the current development of the mobile phone market is incremental, and innovation in this field may have come to an end, and mobile phones may be replaced by other products in the future. Nearly 10 years after Apple Inc. (hereinafter referred to as "Apple") launched the first generation of iPhone, people can't help but ask: Has the innovation of smartphones come to an end? Because Apple this week packaged the outdated 4-inch screen as a new product to sell.

Industry experts believe that the innovation of smartphones has given way to the functions of mobile phones, namely software and services. These software and services have entered many other devices, such as cars, refrigerators, watches and jewelry, and are no longer exclusive to mobile phones.

Analysts and product designers believe that smartphone innovation has hit a bottleneck in terms of screen size, battery life and network capacity. Christian Lindholm, the inventor of the traditional Nokia functional phone keyboard, said: "The current changes in the mobile phone market are all incremental, such as slightly faster operation, slightly larger screen size, slightly more storage space, slightly higher resolution, etc."

For tech giants like Apple, Google and Microsoft, the financial stakes of this trend are enormous because their futures may depend on who can be the first to make the phone redundant — by creating new products that replace it.

Currently, many companies are helping people interact with each other in new ways, such as touch and voice, with products such as smart necklaces with built-in microphones. In this regard, Apple, Google and Microsoft have made progress, launching Google Now, Apple Siri and Microsoft Cortana voice assistants, respectively, as well as Amazon's Alexa now.

Whatever platform replaces the phone in the future will have to address battery life, an issue that is becoming more pressing as consumers watch more and more video. It will also have to have a flexible screen that works well in different lighting conditions, a dream of tech enthusiasts for decades, and manufacturers such as Samsung and LG have been working on it.

Independent financial analyst Richard Windsor said that flexible screens can be folded or rolled up, and the size after unfolding can reach 10 inches or 14 inches. At that time, mobile phones can no longer be defined by screen size. Windsor said: "What is a tablet computer? What is inconvenient about using a tablet? The mobile phone market may evaporate overnight."

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.