LG is getting out of the mobile phone business • Hacker News Board

Re: LG is getting out of the mobile phone business

#491

Post by ascagnel_ » Mon, Apr 05, 2021, 1:48 PM UTC

eertami wrote: post #470

underwater wrote: post #241

The mobile phone ecosystem is sick, and I don't see it getting better. The fact that there is not a third choice is maddening. Even in the worst parts of the Microsoft era we had Apple as the underdog. Apple products had issues, but Apple die-hards at least could rest easy knowing that they were buying into a company who stood for something. In the mobile space the underdog is Google; a company who sees dealing with…

>In the mobile space the underdog is Google Doesn't Android have 70% market share? I don't follow how they're the underdog, surely they're more like Microsoft in this comparison.

Depends on how you slice the market. Android powers 70% of the phones on the market, but iOS makes 50%+ of the profit.

Re: LG is getting out of the mobile phone business

#492

Post by avereveard » Mon, Apr 05, 2021, 1:54 PM UTC

avereveard wrote: post #261

trabant00 wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because at large people don't select their phone based on what you mention. What does matter I believe is marketing. I think most importantly is Samsung's image presence vs LG. Can't remember the last time I've seen a TV advert for LG. Or a billboard in the city center, or youtube hype from influencers, etc. While Samsung is everywhere. Second is the cool factor. LG has none while Samsung have this as a priority. Fro…

there's a lot of tradeoff in samsung phones, from thermal envelop to installed crapware, but their success is not just marketing, they usually come with top of their price class camera, and that is something a lot of people care about. especially mid range a lot of phone produces washed, sad mockery of pictures unless you're under the sunniest day conditions, and even then skin and faces get garbled by the ai-thingy…

all the downvotes only show how much detached from reality the hn cohort has become.

Re: LG is getting out of the mobile phone business

#493

Post by Swizec » Mon, Apr 05, 2021, 1:54 PM UTC

SkyBelow wrote: post #461

gmadsen wrote: post #453

Earlier quoted context omitted.

if seems like all collection of social structures eventually coalesce into a duopoly.

It is a legit concern of mine. I've been asked for phone recommendations from family as well, but they only focus on the main brands with a strong preference for Apple as the status symbol and Samsung as the slightly less pricey option for people who want a phone they can do a bit more with (which is to say they see Samsung as the phone I like because it isn't locked down). Even after explaining there is more to Andr…

> Even after explaining there is more to Android than just Samsung they don't seem to care because their view seems to be based on what advertisements they watch.

Fashionistas see you the same way when it comes to clothes. Car people see you this way about cars. Furniture people about furniture. Photography nuts about photo gear, knife people about kitchen knives, restaurant critics about restaurants, and the list goes on. Let’s not even get into what audiophiles think of most of our speaker and headphone choices ...

Life is too short to be an expert at everything. Too short to even care about most purchases when good enough is plenty.

Look up satisficing vs maximizing.

Re: LG is getting out of the mobile phone business

#494

Post by enragedcacti » Mon, Apr 05, 2021, 1:54 PM UTC

neogodless wrote: post #404

FearlessNebula wrote: post #402

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately OnePlus hasn't been releasing software updates for their new phones

My understanding is that OxygenOS 11 took longer than expected but has been announced as far back as the 7. It was available for the 8/8T a month ago. Still I am holding off on it as there are too many issues on various forums. I don't think there's anything I'm missing from Android 11 (yet.)

They've actually promised OxygenOS 11 all the way back to the 6. That said, rumors are that we won't get even a BETA until August meaning it will be more than a year after AOSP release and be out of date before it even ships :(

Re: LG is getting out of the mobile phone business

#495

Post by ck425 » Mon, Apr 05, 2021, 1:55 PM UTC

mdiesel wrote: post #387

neogodless wrote: post #383

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My nephew asked me what my phone was. I said a OnePlus 7 Pro. He said "is that a Samsung?" My anecdote suggests there is only iPhone and Samsung that people choose between. Of course many know there are other options, but that seems like the mindset of the masses.

+1 for OnePlus. I started years back on the 2, upgraded more recently to the 6T. Will take a lot of convincing for me to even think about anyone else. Same experience though, people have either heard of it and rave about it, or ask who makes it.

I loved my OnePlus One. But then when I went to replace it years later they'd scraped the headphone jack.

Re: LG is getting out of the mobile phone business

#496

Post by varispeed » Mon, Apr 05, 2021, 1:57 PM UTC

ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #424

sumedh wrote: post #381

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It seems like they got lobbied by insurance companies who scam people over the phone I always wondered why Android disabled call recording.

IIRC Google claimed something along the lines of "for your own privacy and security".

And yet they don't disable cameras that you can use to secretly record someone...

Re: LG is getting out of the mobile phone business

#497

Post by ck425 » Mon, Apr 05, 2021, 1:57 PM UTC

Crono wrote: post #445

Very sad. I found the perfect smartphone for me - the V20. It almost feels like a smartphone that happened by accident and will never return in its glorious form again. Dont know what else to use if it dies. Already have a spare Screen and its 4th Battery ready to be used. The second screen is just the perfect solution for having an allways on display without a real (and stupid) notch. I love this feature. Also knock…

How is the software though? I tried it years ago because of the audio quality and ended up going HTC 10 because the LG version of Android was horrendous. Less bloat than Samsung sure but still horrible

Re: LG is getting out of the mobile phone business

#498

Post by varispeed » Mon, Apr 05, 2021, 1:58 PM UTC

herbst wrote: post #433

sumedh wrote: post #381

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It seems like they got lobbied by insurance companies who scam people over the phone I always wondered why Android disabled call recording.

Could also be because recording calls without telling is highly illegal in a lot if not all of europe. There are still apps that can do that afaik

In my country (UK) it is legal, so there is no reason for them really to disable that.

Re: LG is getting out of the mobile phone business

#499

Post by offtop5 » Mon, Apr 05, 2021, 1:59 PM UTC

vbezhenar wrote: post #476

offtop5 wrote: post #421

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Kazakhstan What's the typical income in this country, in America if you're talking about a $700 phone, and you make $70,000 a year it's not completely unreasonable to replace it every year. But if you're making $15,000 a year, spending $30 to repair your $700 phone makes much more sense.

Average salary is $6,000 a year. But those numbers are according to the official statistics and I don't think those are true because of huge gray economy sector. I think that it's more like $3,000-$4,000 a year for most people (but those numbers are after all taxes, we usually don't pay taxes from our salaries, our employer takes care of that). I agree that's one of the reasons that repair is more common. Very few pe…

This is actually a bit fascinating to me, so do people tend to buy much cheaper phones to begin with. I know in many parts of Eastern Europe iPhones aren't nearly as popular due to the expense.

I've had to replace a battery once ( on a Nexus 4)and I will never go through that again.

Re: LG is getting out of the mobile phone business

#500

Post by detaro » Mon, Apr 05, 2021, 1:59 PM UTC

eptcyka wrote: post #290

waheoo wrote: post #254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's simply that people that buy LG don't buy a lot of phones. Samsung so shit you need to buy the new model to get rid of the annoyances of the last. S3 and note were really their only winners. LG hits it out of the park at every price point almost every generation. Same goes for HTC. Buy once, cry once, hodl that shit for half a decade on the short side.

Is that feasible when the device is only supported for 3 years max? This is a serious question. Just bought a new pixel 5, because the pixel 3 I had bought refurbished 2 years ago will lose support in October. There's absolutely nothing wrong with the pixel 3, it's literally the same phone with slightly older innards and no wide angle camera.

Few people care about it, especially since the devices don't make noise about but just stop getting updates at some point. Apps tend to be conservative about axing support for old versions too, so little pressure from there.

(And given how little many people actually install new apps etc, I wonder how large the attack surface really is - but I have no data on that)