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Why You Can't Build a Smartphone

joshondesign.com

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Re: Why You Can't Build a Smartphone

#31

Post by fingerprinter »

cough Ubuntu cough

In all seriousness, if he means smartphone from a hardware perspective, I might actually agree. The startup costs there are crazy high.

But, if he means software, no. Ubuntu is doing it and doing it very, very well. I've said it before, and I'll keep saying it. All Android using hardware manufacturers are crazy to continue with Android now that Google owns Motorola. Look at the Moto X. Nothing can compete with it and no one will be able to in the future.

Samsung and the rest should very actively be looking to remove Android from their handsets as quickly as possible. Ubuntu is by far the best choice.

Re: Why You Can't Build a Smartphone

#32

Post by fembot__ »

I began reading his article hoping to have him talk a little bit more about smartphones in emerging markets, but he barely touched on it. Africa has arguably the fastest growing middle class in the world right now. They're also poised to make a cultural leap far greater than that of China's in the 90s. I read that 60% of Africans will have smartphones in 2019. The continent is already using smart technology in innovative/cost saving ways (i.e. sending funds via sms).

It seems to me that if I am looking to join the smartphone industry, I make myself indispensable to Africa. I think Africans are less likely to care for features like Siri or luxury components. My thought is that developers for devices in that part of the world will have the freedom to think outside the box--what will a smart phone look like on a continent with minimal financial resources, but avid interest in quick data and communication? What do people want from their phone when they don't have necessarily have a computer or strong infrastructure?

Re: Why You Can't Build a Smartphone

#33

Post by mathattack »

I think the point of carrier relevance is importance. Somehow Apple still seems to capture much of the volume.

I have to believe there is still room for disruption at the bottom of the market. Someone could devise a very cheap way to just deliver texts. Or a safe simple network for kids, that they would somehow stick with.

Just when firms seem most invincible, they are also most at risk.

Re: Why You Can't Build a Smartphone

#34

Post by girvo »

Aqwis wrote: post #16

This guy is missing the fact that in a lot of European countries, and elsewhere in the world, carriers mean squat . The carrier is often simply the provider of the SIM card you put in the phone, so carrier support is in no way needed for a phone to succeed. You don't need to be successful in the US to be successful.

All these articles do. It's annoying.

Re: Why You Can't Build a Smartphone

#35

Post by joshmarinacci »

fingerprinter wrote: post #31

cough Ubuntu cough In all seriousness, if he means smartphone from a hardware perspective, I might actually agree. The startup costs there are crazy high. But, if he means software, no. Ubuntu is doing it and doing it very, very well. I've said it before, and I'll keep saying it. All Android using hardware manufacturers are crazy to continue with Android now that Google owns Motorola. Look at the Moto X. Nothing can…

Ubuntu is doing it well? How many phones have they sold? What is their installed base? What % of marketshare?

Re: Why You Can't Build a Smartphone

#36

Post by AsymetricCom »

Aloha wrote: post #28

This should be called "Why You Can't Build a Smartphone Ecosystem" Building the phone itself is easier, license the software from google, develop some cool hardware, build and sell it. Admittedly, selling it is probably the hardest part, hard to innovate on features, you can innovate in packaging, price, assembly place, any number of other things. If you have a big enough bucket of money, you could build a new ecosys…

Another far-out option is building a solution not dependent on the carriers, which have already captured the IP space. There is no more internet, it's all just "telecom" now. That's the first mistake people make when starting an "internet" business. Business is reliant on communication and your communication is reliant on telecom. It's pretty much the same landscape as before the internet existed.

Re: Why You Can't Build a Smartphone

#37

Post by patmcc »

mason55 wrote: post #18
Pxtl wrote: post #11

> Challenge: you are now competing with the iPod Touch. It disappoints me that nobody does this. Every attempted "competitor" I've seen that stands against the iPod Touch either costs more than the touch or is reviewed as unusable garbage.

> Every attempted "competitor" I've seen that stands against the iPod Touch either costs more than the touch or is reviewed as unusable garbage. Maybe this speaks to Tim Cook's operations wizardry? If no one can get components at the same quality or price as Apple then they're stuck either selling a crappier device for the same price or a good device at a higher price. If you can't beat Apple in hardware price or har…

>>they're stuck either selling a crappier device for the same price or a good device at a higher price.

Or they just need to accept a lower gross margin than the ~50% Apple gets.

Re: Why You Can't Build a Smartphone

#38

Post by dobbsbob »

fingerprinter wrote: post #31

cough Ubuntu cough In all seriousness, if he means smartphone from a hardware perspective, I might actually agree. The startup costs there are crazy high. But, if he means software, no. Ubuntu is doing it and doing it very, very well. I've said it before, and I'll keep saying it. All Android using hardware manufacturers are crazy to continue with Android now that Google owns Motorola. Look at the Moto X. Nothing can…

Another reason you can't make new smartphones is lawsuits. I imagine Ubuntu OS will be sued out of existence by patent trolls should Samsung adopt it. They don't have an army of lawyers like Android/Google.

Re: Why You Can't Build a Smartphone

#39

Post by colinbartlett »

joshmarinacci wrote: post #35
fingerprinter wrote: post #31

cough Ubuntu cough In all seriousness, if he means smartphone from a hardware perspective, I might actually agree. The startup costs there are crazy high. But, if he means software, no. Ubuntu is doing it and doing it very, very well. I've said it before, and I'll keep saying it. All Android using hardware manufacturers are crazy to continue with Android now that Google owns Motorola. Look at the Moto X. Nothing can…

Ubuntu is doing it well? How many phones have they sold? What is their installed base? What % of marketshare?

Somewhere around 0.0M units with an approximate 0.0% marketshare.

Re: Why You Can't Build a Smartphone

#40

Post by zokier »

gbvb wrote: post #8
natural219 wrote: post #2

Sorry, but you don't seem to be offering anything new here. We know there are large capital costs for hardware businesses. We know network effects exist for phone applications. We know UI performance is a key issue in smartphone adoption (currently). Maybe "It's Hard To Build A Smartphone In 2013" would be a better title. But to suggest people will be using iPhones and Androids in the year 2050...Yikes. I pray that f…

The way I read this article, It is less about building new smartphone but more about the next technology shift that is going to change the direction. Basically, as oft repeated Ford statement goes, 'if you asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horse'. So, at this point, smartphone business is settling into a faster horse business. So, I would really expect the next big thing to be not a be an iPh…

> So, I would really expect the next big thing to be not a be an iPhone but something utterly different. Neural implants, anyone?

Google Glass seems like a good candidate.

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