Ben Wood, Chief of Research, CCS Insight recently dropped us a line on Samsung's 2016 Mobile Trends. Confirming what we've seen ourselves, smartphones have reached the stage where all smartphones are in a "sea of sameness". While innovation is few and far in between like Samsung's Galaxy Edge dual-curved display and Apple's recent 3D Touch feature, this does not mean that innovation will stop. According to CCS Insight, 1.63 billion smartphones will sell in 2016 alone. As Samsung and Apple clash, new industry players like Huawei are also on the rise.
He also anticipates that wearables like smartwatches are going to become even more popular in 2016. While we do agree with that (see our new smartwatch section!) we're a bit wary about calling "2016 to be a tipping point for wearables" especially as the main problem of battery life has yet to be addressed. Recent introductions of more affordable wearables like the Honor Band Z1 for just RM259 are definitely making wearables more affordable and therefore more in reach for the normal user. However, we estimate that smartwatches have to be at least half the price of entry-level smartphones before it can reach any form of "tipping point" just yet.
According to CCS Insight, smartphones will continue to play an important role in 2016 and the future and we also agree with that point. However, infrastructure will no doubt have to follow suite with more reliable methods of e-payment than our current systems (I think practically everyone has had a problem with Touch'n'Go or Smart Tag). When we can fully utilize our phones and wearables to make payments then we will see that "tipping point" occur, at least here in Malaysia. Will VR play a role too? Maybe. We think it is still early days yet.
COMMENTS