2018 Reckless Predictions for Smartphones (revised)
All the analysis are based on the data, information and report from various consultancy firms, including (in no particular order) Isaiah Research, IDC, Gartner, Counterpoint Research, Digitimes, Sigmaintell, Strategy Analytics, IHS Markit, etc.
OVERALL MARKET
- Smartphone growth picks up again in 2018
- The top 5 will be same top 5 for another year
- India is really the front of new battleground, but don’t forget Africa
SMARTPHONE FEATURES
- Artificial intelligence is picking up
- Mobile AR is a selling point gradually picking up
- Full display continues to reign and even more
- Foldable phones are showing up a bit
- Dual-camera goes mass
- 3D sensing going Android
- Facial recognition is going mass!
- Fingerprint on display finally is here
- Memory continues to haunt the smartphone cost
Not so reckless, if with data…
Call it Top 6 to include both Xiaomi and Vivo. The separation between #6 and #7 is growing.
Do we still need fingerprint (under glass or not) if facial recognition goes mass market? Don’t both address the same issue–authentication? If accuracy is the same, is it more of a design or cost trade-off?
Face authentication is still widely known as NOT so secure (even for 3D, yes). Of course we can always argue fingerprint is also not without its flaws. However, for face to totally replace fingerprint, I personally think it is likely in the foreseeable future (5 years give or take), unless the technology (i.e., 3D sensing) can be as cheap as fingerprint (it is currently USD15 vs. USD3).