Dialing new tech to deal with troubles

Last week, one of my friends, seeking to buy a smartphone, asked me to recommend a premium model.

She wanted to dump her old iPhone 7 and buy a new exciting handset. As if an iPhone were a boyfriend that can be dumped－that too in China, where an Apple device commands both stature and snob value!

But then, things－consumer tastes and preferences, that is－are evolving fast. Which means, emerging technologies like artificial intelligence that are revolutionizing consumer electronics, are finding ready acceptance among buyers.

Anyway, my friend's request wasn't difficult to fulfil. These days, recommending a new phone is a piece of cake. But it wasn't so even a few years ago.

As a tech journalist, I gather firsthand knowledge of a large number of smartphones every year. Each model has its unique strengths and weaknesses. It's time-consuming to compare each feature. And it can get exasperating when you've to explain your recommendation to ignorant buyers who don't know what they really want.

My friend had a price range in mind, so that helped narrow the choice to three models. For good measure, I added: "There's little difference among them. Just pick the one you fall in love with at first sight."

When selection becomes easy for the consumer, there's a problem for the smartphone industry. There are fewer smartphones with "new" features these days. Incremental changes or upgrades are the norm. Increasingly, different brands look and work the same.

Apple's revolutionary first-generation iPhone debuted 11 years ago. This September, its newest model was the result of the slightest upgrade. Apple shares tumbled after media reported sales of its new iPhones were under par.

Now, the industry is pinning its hopes on 5G. Insiders think the new tech has the potential to inject fresh vitality into the struggling industry. 5G is expected to enable lightning-fast internet connectivity－a potential game-changer that could see smartphones playing a central role in the internet of things or IoT era.

Conceivably, 5G smartphones may well connect your car, and smart appliances and devices in your smart home and smart office.

Among the 5G possibilities are augmented reality (computer graphics merging with the real world), virtual reality, improved streaming resolution, holographic displays, enhanced power and next-gen cloud computing. More importantly, smartphone makers' enthusiasm for 5G shows how technological advances can motivate people, especially when their product shipments are shrinking.

To be sure, every industry goes through the cycles of ups and downs. But the ability to exploit technological advances in a timely way, can help an industry to survive, and even defy, the cycles. That's the lesson to draw from smartphone makers' response to sales slump.