IS THE UK SMARTPHONE MARKET BEING AMERICANISED? ~ Technically Funny
Technically Funny

Wednesday, 22 February 2012

IS THE UK SMARTPHONE MARKET BEING AMERICANISED?

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You see that title? It might seem a bit of a stupid question due to the fact that one of the biggest selling phones in the UK is made by an American company, but it's a valid question none the less. A few months back, I touched (pun not intended) on the topic of huge touch screens on smartphones. I'm not a big fan. As companies try to convince us that tablets are a necessity and we should use them along with our computers and smartphones, I feel that they are contradicting that marketing angle by releasing phones with huge touch screens. Let's take a look at 2 very decent tablets.
The Apple iPad has a 9 inch screen. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 has a 10 inch screen. They are both great tablets in their own right. But you also have a big range of tablets that are 7 inches. Samsung are one of the manufactures that make 7 inch tablets. So far, Apple have avoided that screen size but rumours are rife that they may introduce a smaller iPad. So as it stands, tablets are something we need and come in sizes ranging from 7 inches to 10. That's great, now what about phones? As Smartphones are predominantly touch screen devices and we at told we should use them alongside our tablets, you expect them to have a smaller screen size. Since the iPhone first launched in the UK, touch screens were no bigger than 3.5 inches. But now, you have companies releasing phones all the way up to 5.3 inches. That's a BIG screen for a mobile and borders on tablet size. Now if we are meant to use our tablets with our smartphones, why would our smartphones be nearly the same size as our tablets? The whole point is to make life easier and carry less devices around. Not bigger ones.

THE HYBRID
Of all companies, Dell started this trend by releasing the Dell Streak which was as big of a flop as it was big. The Streak was a 5 inch Android smartphone and it was an actual phone. Using it as a phone was like you had a massive rectangle slapped against your face, it just looked silly. The fact that it was so poorly received in the UK proved that us Brits just want normal sized phones. Unfortunately, manufacturers didn't listen, so we had HTC making 4 inch phones and Samsung joined the party. These phones did OK in the UK but doing a bit of digging around, I found that HTC's best selling phones in the UK are the Desire and Desire S. both of these phones have a screen size less than 4inches yet alongside their release were handsets that had 4 inch screens and above. Yes this may have something to do with the fact that the 4inch screen phones like the HTC Sensation were not as good as the Desire but none the less, if big touch screens were a big factor for us Brits, we would have still bought them over the Desire. Yet despite this, big screen phones are dominating the Smartphone landscape in the UK. 


Samsung released the biggest selling Android phone in the UK called Galaxy S2. This phone has a 4.3inch screen and is a great phone. This was the UK's first real introduction of a top quality phone with a big screen. Yet iPhones still outsold it despite the smaller screen. This isn't a surprise as Apple's behemoth branding will outsell most phones despite how great other alternatives are. But with this success, Samsung have gone another step ahead and released the Galaxy Note. Now the Note is a 5.3 Inch Android smartphone with the internals that pretty much mimic the Galaxy S2. It's huge. There has been a bit of a demand for this device but I bet you that the majority of consumers in the UK that want this phone do NOT own or intend to own a tablet.
Now following on the trend of the Dell Streak and the Galaxy Note, LG have also announced a 5 inch smartphone. Lets face it, LG's Android phones have never been the greatest but even they feel the a flagship Android smartphone needs a 5 inch screen. But where do these big screen ideas originate from? America.


AMERICANS LOVE BIG TOUCH SCREENS
The best example of this is the new Nokia and Microsoft partnership. Nokia released at Lumia 800 in Europe before the US and this handset consisted of a 3.7 inch smartphone. Why did Nokia release it in the Europe before the US? Because they are releasing the Nokia Lumia 900 in America before Europe. Whats the main difference between the Lumia 800 and 900? Take a guess? The Lumia 900 has a 4.3 inch screen. Nokia obviously did their research, knowing full well that Americans love big touch screens and decided to release the bigger one across the pond first and the smaller one over here first.


The trend continues in the UK however, Apple showed the UK how great smartphones can be with a touchscreen and others followed suit. Despite Apple being a market leader in innovation and sticking to smaller screen for the last 5 years, their competition has moved up in screen size. The UK is being fed these huge touch screen phones yet are being told that we need tablets alongside them. Surely companies like Samsung are cannibalising their tablet sales by releasing the 5 inch Galaxy Note which will eliminate the need for a tablet? Yeah there are Brits out there that like big touch screens and would still get a tablet but I feel they are in a minority.


So the influx of huge touch screens are thanks to the Americans. Smaller size touch screens will most likely be a thing of the past as even Apple are reportedly considering a size increase on their hugely popular iPhone. Even though us Brits currently prefer smaller touch screens, the American market will keep slapping us into submission with their huge 5 inch touch screens and we will eventually comply. It's a wonder that 5 years ago, we were ahead of America in mobile tech but now, they have LTE and 4G and our networks are still bickering over who gets what with no sign of any 4G masts going up until 2014 at the earliest.


So, to conclude, if you want a small touchscreen phone, snap one up now. They are a dying breed!

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