Any predictions for the mobile landscape for next year?

Dari

Lifer
Oct 25, 2002
17,133
38
91
CES and MWC are coming up. I've noticed that, to move from 16GB to 32 or 64GB, the price to pay is not as big as it used to be. In fact, many OEMs are skipping 32GB altogether. Do you think 32GB will become the new base just as 16GB has been for a while now? I'd like to think so, then there'd be no need for mSDs for many end users. Also, SONY has taken battery management very seriously. I think other OEMs will go in that direction. Before, it used to be only Motorola but they did it primarily from the hardware side with big batteries. Now, I think many will focus on the software side.

I bought my last smartphone for personal use in 2013 so I'm eagerly looking to see what's going to be available.
 
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Midwayman

Diamond Member
Jan 28, 2000
5,723
325
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I don't see a move away from 16gb in the android space at least. The main reason being expandable storage. 16gb is fined if you can buy a SD card. The devices that don't have removable storage will have to offer it to compete on price. Unless google forces the issue, or android gets too big, I don't see high minimums. Google is still offering 16gb devices, so I see that as unlikely soon. I just hope they at least offer large capacities.

The main thing I see in 2015 is the move to 64 bit happening in earnest. I don't know that will mean a lot for the consumer, but all signs point that way. Multi tasking might be pushed more as its a way to convince people more resolution and ram is needed. Maybe we'll see 4gb device this year in phablets and tablets.

Apple- 2gb ram in the 6s and 6s+. ipad pro in the 12" range. All devices going to more cores like the air 2 did. I think at some point they are going to have to goto a virtual home button. With the larger phones, its huge disadvantage to use all that area for something that's not screen.
 

Commodus

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 2004
9,215
6,820
136
My predictions:

-- Samsung is not going to bounce back from its recent downturn, at least not in any dramatic way. The Galaxy S6 will probably address issues like build quality and software, but it'll be too late: Apple has erased Samsung's main advantage at the high end (big screens), while Chinese OEMs are going to keep undercutting it in mid-range and low end models. And importantly, I think Samsung has lost its public image as the "inevitable" choice. When you lose cachet with your customers, it's hard to come back.

-- On that note: expect Chinese companies to be even more important. You probably won't see many of them cross to the US (Xiaomi in particular), but they'll sell more phones than many conventional OEMs do worldwide.

-- Apple will be conservative with the 6S/6S Plus, but it won't be in as much trouble as it was with the 5S; the big complaint (screen size) has been taken care of. I'm expecting 3-4 core A9 chips, a major camera upgrade and maaaybe 32GB of base storage.

-- Wearables will take off... and as much as the haters would be loathe to admit, the Apple Watch will be the smartwatch that people actually care about. It may spur some added iPhone sales, but it'll definitely make current smartwatch sales look miniscule.
 

lopri

Elite Member
Jul 27, 2002
13,310
687
126
I am curious as to what Qualcomm has in store now that 20 nm process is getting on speed. Generic A53+A57 is not Qualcomm's long-term plan, I presume.

Also curious how many OEMs will go with A53+A57 instead of S805 which is a known quality and has not yet seen widespread adoption. (I counted 3 phones - Droid Turbo, Nexus 6, Note 4) Lollipop threw them off with 64-bit and encryption, so despite its potency S805 may suffer in the marketing in 2015. I do not expect to see the current Tegra K1's in phones.

Oh and sapphire glass would be interesting if it happens, for sure. I wonder which way the consumers' preference will go? Flexible phones or scratch-proof phones? We do not have either of them yet but we know that OEMs have been fiddling with the concepts. The two concepts are so different yet very applicable to mobile devices that it would be interesting to see which one will catch on, whichever comes first.
 

Paladin

Senior member
Oct 22, 2001
660
33
91
I am curious as to what Qualcomm has in store now that 20 nm process is getting on speed. Generic A53+A57 is not Qualcomm's long-term plan, I presume.

Also curious how many OEMs will go with A53+A57 instead of S805 which is a known quality and has not yet seen widespread adoption. (I counted 3 phones - Droid Turbo, Nexus 6, Note 4) Lollipop threw them off with 64-bit and encryption, so despite its potency S805 may suffer in the marketing in 2015. I do not expect to see the current Tegra K1's in phones.

Oh and sapphire glass would be interesting if it happens, for sure. I wonder which way the consumers' preference will go? Flexible phones or scratch-proof phones? We do not have either of them yet but we know that OEMs have been fiddling with the concepts. The two concepts are so different yet very applicable to mobile devices that it would be interesting to see which one will catch on, whichever comes first.

The 810 uses A53+A57, with 64bit support/ Adreno 430 GPU... Looks like Motorola is already prepping an update to the Nexus 6 using the 810

link

I think the 810 will be the goto processor in 2015, many skipping the 805.
 

sm625

Diamond Member
May 6, 2011
8,172
137
106
-- Wearables will take off... and as much as the haters would be loathe to admit, the Apple Watch will be the smartwatch that people actually care about. It may spur some added iPhone sales, but it'll definitely make current smartwatch sales look miniscule.

I cant wait to see how many dumb yuppies shell out $300 for a watch they never once missed in the last 10 years. "OMG all the sudden I neeeeeed this watch that I never once felt a need for even once as far back as I remember!" This will be the ultimate proof of how stupefied this country has become.
 

poofyhairguy

Lifer
Nov 20, 2005
14,612
318
126
I cant wait to see how many dumb yuppies shell out $300 for a watch they never once missed in the last 10 years.

That doesn't make sense, how can you miss something until you have it?

I know for me I wouldn't want to go back to before I had a smartwatch, it is just too useful. In fact I am hoping that the Apple watch brings in some creative developers who come up with new use cases for the entire segment.
 

Muadib

Lifer
May 30, 2000
18,120
911
126
I love my smartwatch, and if the apple watch worked on an android phone, I would get one for the NFC alone.
 

ponyo

Lifer
Feb 14, 2002
19,688
2,811
126
I will be watching the Apple watch sales with interest. Entire wearable category has been a failure IMO and it'll be interesting if Apple can change that.
 

dawheat

Diamond Member
Sep 14, 2000
3,132
93
91
My predictions:

-- Samsung is not going to bounce back from its recent downturn, at least not in any dramatic way. The Galaxy S6 will probably address issues like build quality and software, but it'll be too late: Apple has erased Samsung's main advantage at the high end (big screens), while Chinese OEMs are going to keep undercutting it in mid-range and low end models. And importantly, I think Samsung has lost its public image as the "inevitable" choice. When you lose cachet with your customers, it's hard to come back.

-- On that note: expect Chinese companies to be even more important. You probably won't see many of them cross to the US (Xiaomi in particular), but they'll sell more phones than many conventional OEMs do worldwide.

-- Apple will be conservative with the 6S/6S Plus, but it won't be in as much trouble as it was with the 5S; the big complaint (screen size) has been taken care of. I'm expecting 3-4 core A9 chips, a major camera upgrade and maaaybe 32GB of base storage.

-- Wearables will take off... and as much as the haters would be loathe to admit, the Apple Watch will be the smartwatch that people actually care about. It may spur some added iPhone sales, but it'll definitely make current smartwatch sales look miniscule.

I think Samsung will bounce back in specific, brand concious markets like the US. S5 sales were actually higher than the S4 in the US and a more premium S6 IMO will do well. I do agree that they're in a losing fight in the mid and low end.

I don't doubt that the Apple Watch will sell well, but I wonder how those first adopters will feel after shelling out $300-500 and finding it close to obsolete a year later. I'd really hesitate to get any wearable that's not reasonably cheap until the technology curve starts to be less steep.
 

dawheat

Diamond Member
Sep 14, 2000
3,132
93
91
I do think:

- Apple is going to have ridiculous profits in Q4 2014 and throughout 2015, but by the end of 2015, the division of sales between iOS and Android will be back to pre-iPhone 6 levels.
- Non-traditional display formats will finally move into the mainstream - whether it be curved, edge, or something else.
- Between QD LCDs and continuing improvements to AMOLEDs - 2015 flagship screens will reach the point of highly diminished returns.
- QQ loses their stronghold on Android SOCs
 

vi edit

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Oct 28, 1999
62,484
8,345
126
I will be watching the Apple watch sales with interest. Entire wearable category has been a failure IMO and it'll be interesting if Apple can change that.

I think Apple screwed themselves by putting almost half a year between announcing and releasing. You missed that initial surge of people buying just "because" upon release. Now you've got months and months of waiting and people realizing that they can actually survive without that tech and saving themselves $350 or more. It was a horribly rushed move by Apple and not in character with their traditional way of releasing products.
 

PricklyPete

Lifer
Sep 17, 2002
14,582
162
106
I think Apple screwed themselves by putting almost half a year between announcing and releasing. You missed that initial surge of people buying just "because" upon release. Now you've got months and months of waiting and people realizing that they can actually survive without that tech and saving themselves $350 or more. It was a horribly rushed move by Apple and not in character with their traditional way of releasing products.


Agreed. The watch is going to have to offer a lot to make it worthwhile. My guess as to why they did that was to get developers thinking/developing.
 

blairharrington

Senior member
Jan 1, 2009
767
0
71
Regarding flagships.....

S6 will be a return to form for Samsung. At least with respect to hardware. Whether TouchWiz will still be ugly is sadly likely. Note 5 keeps up the positive trends by the line.

HTC will ditch the Ultrapixel camera on the M9. Sadly I think they'll follow LG and go 5.5" for their flagship.

LG keeps the screen at 5.5" but makes it thinner and perhaps, if possible, with even less bezel.

Sony Z4 and maybe Z4C continue the positives steps forward for them.

Moto X 2015 still has a mediocre camera and battery.

Android keeps up the SD slot trend.

Apple brings the inevitable 'S' devices in the fall of next year. Perhaps a 4" model too.

First-gen Apple Watch will disappoint in sales.
 

sgrinavi

Diamond Member
Jul 31, 2007
4,537
0
76
Samsung is going to up the ante with a ULTRA_SUPER_G

big-phone-300x295.png
 

quikah

Diamond Member
Apr 7, 2003
4,189
736
126
Seems to me we have kind of plateaud on the flagship front.

I expect MS to make a big push with Windows 10, if they can get the integration down between desktop and mobile that would be killer, but I expect a lot of missed opportunities given their track record.
 

lopri

Elite Member
Jul 27, 2002
13,310
687
126
Troubling news for Qualcomm and tier-1 OEMs?

New Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 details arrive, as rumors of flaws and shortages loom

That slower clock speed sounds well and good – but as for these other rumors, the situation’s a lot less sunny. Reportedly, the 810 is suffering from a series of problems that could spell delays with availability. Those range from overheating when operating at too high a voltage, speed issues tied to RAM controller faults, and a driver problem affecting GPU performance. Between the lot of them, these issues are stoking fears that the 810 may not be ready for inclusion in early-year 2015 flagships, including the Galaxy S6 and LG G4. While Samsung has new Exynos models of its own, a shortage could leave other OEMs in a potentially tight spot.

There are other rumors that point to S805 in HTC One (M9) and Sony Xperia Z4 next year. I personally do not think there is anything wrong with S805 - it's just launched and plenty fast for 2K display, which is very rare on smartphones as of today. Heck, I think S800 is plenty for 1080p phones. (Tablets could use some more performance)

Will Qualcomm slip? Will it be an opportune moment for Rockchips, Mediatek, Allwinner, et al.? XD
 

poofyhairguy

Lifer
Nov 20, 2005
14,612
318
126
Qualcomm slipped when Apple caught them flat-footed and their top design guy put out a career ending Bill Gates-ish quote (I know it's misattributed). Anyone should have seen this coming a mile away, these 2015 Qualcomm parts are last minute slap togethers. Samsung has had problems running pure ARM designs at first and so will Qualcomm. Maybe the little guys used to stock designs will surge ahead.

This is why I was so desperate to get some 2014 tech for me and my wife last month, to ride out the storm until those late 2015 or early 2016 chips hit. We will also have Android 5.1 then, which might help boost current 64bit device performance.

The Nexus 9 was 32bit for a reason.
 

luv2liv

Diamond Member
Dec 27, 2001
3,500
94
91
2015 sales will be more disappointing to manufacturers. people realize their phones are still good enough for txt, email, maps, youtube, facebook. i can see my htc m7 still good for another 3 years, assuming the non-replaceable battery dont crap out. the only people buying $700 phones are those living on welfare and thinking those phones are status symbols, or paid by employers (like my phone is company paid)