Phone users know when to hold ’em, delay upgrades amid inflation

Remember the early days of the smartphone revolution when, even after six months, your phone felt outdated? Not anymore. Smartphone replacement cycles are getting longer as discretionary household budgets come under pressure from inflation, with demand for new devices expected to fall for the rest of this year. Phone makers …

[elsergiovolador]

Market

I am in the market for a new phone, but releases so far have been shite.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Market

Delaying the iPhone 18 cheaper end of the range until 2017 is going to do nothing for Christmas. Recipients or Retailers.

[Someone Else]

What?

You mean that Ma and Pa aren't interested anymore in buying little Johnny or Janey a shiny new iThing for $/€/£1500+? That they'd rather buy food, or gas up the auto? Shirley, etc.

[Headley_Grange]

I think that budgetary constraints are compounding a situation that was already in play. In the early, heady days of mobiles new phones had snazzy new features that people really wanted and were willing to splash out on well before they needed to. Today new phones have incremental improvements which, no matter how much they are bigged up at the annual press shindigs, don't nudge the dial far enough to make the difference they used to. I think Apple in particular are suffering from (their) AI proving not to be the shelf emptier that they hoped it would.

I'm on old git who sits in the unfashionable end of the distribution of phone buyers so I'll be hanging on to my iPhone 13 Mini as long as it gets security updates because it does everything I need pretty well and can't run AI but mainly because it's small enough to fit in my jacket pocket.

[Nifty]

Ditto. Wondering vaguely what could replace the trusty iPhone 13 Mini at some point in the future. Maybe just wait for the direct brain implant.

[Anonymous Coward]

Why getting rid of the iPhone SE and Plus models was completely dumb.

The e and Air are no substitute and just push entry level from value towards mid-market.

Odd behaviour with a cost of living crisis bubbling away for several years …. Esp. in the wake of the MacBook Neo launch last month.That’s been cooking for a while.

[Doctor Syntax]

"I'm on old git who sits in the unfashionable end of the distribution of phone buyers so I'll be hanging on to my iPhone 13 Mini"

From my unfashionable end of the distribution your iPhone whatever puts you way out of sight down the other end.

[elsergiovolador]

Security on iPhone is an illusion.

[NapTime ForTruth]

Security is an illusion.

[elsergiovolador]

True that, but your iPhone can be compromised and you'll never know because Apple doesn't give access for tools to be able to check.

[MachDiamond]

I use my phone very simply. I don't do text and only have a few specialized apps to manage my shopping list and calculate settings for my camera. I'm not constantly phone in hand and desperately looking for a place to charge every 20 mins. I don't see that people that are addicted are getting ahead more than me. They're just more likely to walk into a road and get hit by a bus or drop into an open manhole. I like music and audiobooks just like the next person, but my iPods are much less expensive and if I run one flat, it doesn't affect using the phone. My car has a 10" aftermarket Android tablet set up for automotive use. That gives me satnav, media, all sorts of trip/car data and the thing I bought it to do, a backup camera as I don't twist as well as I once could. It turned out the replacement head unit was less expensive than a dedicated backup camera. The big screen is far more useful than my phone suction-cupped to the windscreen or sat on the dash to slide around. There's a certain allure to having one device that does everything, but it's also a single point of failure. The cost of the Android head unit and several iPods is far less than the cost of a more capable phone. This means that my phone can be relatively basic as I'm not asking too much from it.

[Tim Roberts 1]

And, some of us old codgers don't want - or need - an "all in one".

I still prefer to use my canon DSLR for photography, my card for purchases and my fingers to control my coffee machine.

Let alone not needing to use a phone more than a few times a week for actual calls.

Having said that I have no desire to go back to a wired home phone.

[Doctor Syntax]

"Having said that I have no desire to go back to a wired home phone."

I'll stick with mine. I don't want to have to wait for the wind to be in the right direction or some mysterious phase of the moon that's necessary to be able to make and receive phone calls, especially without them dropping out.

[Number6]

A landline serves a useful purpose. I use mine as the number I give to places that are pushy about needing one when I'm not in the mood to challenge why they need it, but if they call it they'll get the answering machine, not me.

[Roland6]

One of the nice and unexpected changes of the digital switchover is my house phone has gained the option of flagging the call as “nuisance”, unfortunately it only gives this option before I accept the call, not after once I have actually confirmed it to be a nuisance call…

[MachDiamond]

"I use mine as the number I give to places that are pushy about needing one when I'm not in the mood to challenge why they need it, but if they call it they'll get the answering machine, not me."

There are still "test" numbers at least in the US that just ring. One of those is my phone number if I'm not feeling like giving out my real number. Twice that's been spotted so I also have a backup for that. It's a random number from a block assigned to the tax mob. Maybe it rings on somebody's desk or it might be in the outgoing pool, I don't know. I do know that it hasn't been rejected.

[MachDiamond]

"Having said that I have no desire to go back to a wired home phone."

In many places, that isn't an option any more.

[Anonymous Coward]

Smartphones have become a mature product ecosystem

Even without inflationary pressures, smartphone upgrades have been offering declining marginal improvements for years. What we see now is a combination of gimmicks and specs for the tech bloggers. The typical user has largely quit caring. They're fast, batteries are good, space+cloud is generally enough, cameras are great, Internet browsing is faster than the desktops people remember from 10 years ago, etc.

Other mobile/wearable formats might be ripe for innovation, but what does the modern smartphone even hypothetically lack? It's a grasp to even say "AI ready silicon" when many users either don't want those features or can access them over the network. Will it be like the old days when people routinely buy that new desktop to meet software system requirements? Speaking of which: seen system requirements in the last 10 years? For nearly everything not niche, it's now down to just OS support and newer than a certain date. If "AI ready silicon" becomes practiically commoditized like the rest of phone hardware before the demand is there, it won't accelerate replacement.

Why do people get new smartphones now? Because the old one broke.

Users have become fine with the replacement cycle essentially being the life of the device. The usual corporate planned obsolescence doesn't even work well here, as a phone which doesn't last "long enough" risks alienating a user from an ecosystem heavy on service revenue.

But some tech types see things differently and can't accept a mature product is fine being mature unless there's an important need for disruption.

[elDog]

"Why do people get new smartphones now? Because the old one broke."

That is it in a nice little nutshell.

And if you don't physically break the phone, one of the supply-chain vendors will brick it for you with an update soon.

Witness the huge number of Samsung Galaxy S series suddenly developing screen issues because an update caused the phone to overheat. Clever.

[blu3b3rry]

Re: "Why do people get new smartphones now? Because the old one broke."

I wasn't particularly pleased when I found the Samsung Galaxy A53 I'd purchased only had three years of software updates. Replaced with a Pixel 8a which has much better long-term support, thankfully. I don't see any reason to upgrade to anything newer - the pixel does everything I need it to (especially after deactivating all the AI shit) and newer models appear to have little to offer apart from more AI functions no-one wants.

Frustratingly it was only with subsequent models Samsung started offering longer support times on their cheaper phones....beats me why that couldn't have retroactively applied to models that were barely months outside the support window at the time.

[ComicalEngineer]

Another iphone 13 user here. Mine is now on a "sim only" contract costing me a massive £11 per month.

It does everything that I need and there's nothing that a new phone does for me that mine does not already do.

Unless it breaks, or the battery dies I'll keep it and I may even treat it to a new case.

Basically, phones are a mature technology and there is no killer app or function to differentiate a new model from the previous model. I note that the manufacturers are pushing foldable phones as the next big thing, but again, I can't see this as a killer feature.

[NapTime ForTruth]

My understanding is that foldable phones are a "killer" feature in the sense that using the folding part eventually kills the screen.

Planned obsolescence for the win...for some values of "win".

[ThatOne]

> pushing foldable phones as the next big thing

They've been doing that for years, and still they are just a niche product. I've yet to see a common mortal using one.

[thedarkstar]

Another iPhone 13 user here, must have been a popular year as quite a few of us on El Reg still rocking one.

Mine actually has better battery health than my partners 15 Plus which is two years younger.

[Anonymous Coward]

The biggest fight is keeping the latest OS "up"grades from shitting on the things.

[mark l 2]

I'm daily driving a 2018 Oneplus 6. Other than the battery now not holding as much charge there is nothing wrong with the hardware, and the software is kept up to date thanks to Lineage OS.

I don't really feel the need to replace the phone while its working for just some incremental improvements in CPU, RAM and cameras.

[Number6]

Given that mine has "2022" in the model title, I guess it's about four years since I last replaced my phone. Still got the previous one around somewhere too, it will still work if I put a SIM in it and I can use it for app development if I ever get the time.

[IGotOut]

Got a pixel 7 pro...

...but that 2nd hand to replace my 2nd Huawei Pro 20. Wanted the Pro 40, but had to settle for an inferior phone instead due to political dick comparisons.

[_wojtek]

it's not only money speaking. the tech doesn't improve all that much either.

just the other day I switched my 4 year old galaxy a52 (midranger) for Xiaomi 15 - not brand new model but it wąs still an upgrade over previous galaxy and it was discounted to 450€ which made it quite sensible.

and I plan to use it probably till it breaks so next 4-6 years :D

[retiredFool]

No plan on upgrading

But the article implies that memory will be in short supply until 2029. Me thinks the AI shall burst in 2027 and memory will be plentiful with more supply and nowhere to put it.

[billdehaan]

I've been delaying for almost a decade now, and in no rush

I think the most I've ever paid for a phone was something like Cdn$325, and that's because in the late 1990s, that's what a cheap phone cost, and there wasn't a used market to speak of. Since then, outside of a brief dalliance with the late, and very much lamented C$99 Nokia Lumia 520, all of my phones were bought used for under C$250, with the last being a Samsung S7 in 2017.

Honestly, if the Canadian carriers hadn't discontinued the 2G and 3G networks, I'd probably still be using my Nokia 520, or maybe even my C3 from 2021.

I'm currently running a Samsung S8 I was gifted in 2020 when a friend renewed his three year plan and got a "free" upgrade to either an S9 or S10, whatever was current. And a year ago, another friend gave me an S7 Edge he didn't want because it was sitting in a drawer collecting dust. That one's been remissioned as a dedicate in-car dashcam and offline GPS, and hey, if the S8 dies, if moves up to first place.

Although the S7 Edge and the S8 are both around a decade old, I not only don't see anything compelling in newer phones to justify one, it seems that progress has actually been retrograde, with the microSD card slot and headphone jacks having been removed from newer phones.

Sure, my phones are potentially insecure. But since they're used for talk and text and PDA functions (camera, offline GPS, offline media player, calendar, calculator), and they don't have my real email, or any applications with personal data, there's nothing in there worth stealing, honestly. Sure, a hacker could get my activity tracker's step count and heart rate data, but that's about it.

At least in the past, when I saw new phones, I'd sometimes be tempted with a new feature I didn't have. It wouldn't justify the cost of a new phone, and I wouldn't get it, but I'd at least think about it. The phones today are not only not interesting, they actually seem like steps backward from what I currently have.

If I'm going to spend money on a phone in 2026, it will be to replace the 9 year old battery in the S8, and maybe replace the battered up protective case. But a new phone? Nah. And a new phone that costs $1,000 or more? Hell no.

[billdehaan]

Re: I've been delaying for almost a decade now, and in no rush

My C3 from 2021

Typo. My C3 from 2012.

[Roland6]

Re: I've been delaying for almost a decade now, and in no rush

I assume you mean the Nokia C3 (2010) “feature phone” not the C3 2021 Android phone.

[billdehaan]

Re: I've been delaying for almost a decade now, and in no rush

Wow. I didn't even know there was a 2021 Android one with the same name.

Yes, I meant this one. It may have been officially released in 2010, but I got mine in Canada at the beginning of 2012, because a local box store was dumping them, unlocked for under a hundred dollars. Of course, if it was two years old, that would probably explain why they were being dumped on the cheap.

[MachDiamond]

Re: I've been delaying for almost a decade now, and in no rush

"I'm currently running a Samsung S8 I was gifted in 2020 when a friend renewed his three year plan and got a "free" upgrade to either an S9 or S10"

TANSTAAFL

That "free" upgrade likely came with a 2-3 year contract commitment. I like to avoid that. I don't expect I'll be moving again, but if I did, I might need to change carriers depending on service at the new location. I'd not be happy having to pay a bunch of termination fees when I'd already be spending money like mad for the move.

[billdehaan]

Re: I've been delaying for almost a decade now, and in no rush

Hence my putting the word "free" in quotes.

The last time I had a phone contract was around 2003, and that was because I was doing WAP/WLM work (ugh), and the only phones available with it were not available anywhere else. Besides, it was a business expense, so I wasn't the one paying for it.

Other than that, I've been prepaid/PAYGO all the way. I'm astounded at the number of people who don't understand that "free" just means "included". I've seen people seriously sign up for a two year plan to get some absurdly (for the time) expensive phone that was $900 unlocked for "only" $199, then try to cancel their contract and be shocked that they have to pay the full price of the phone (and then some) in termination fees.

I once had an argument with a co-worker who was shocked I was using a cheap entry level phone (an LG Optimus). When he asked why I didn't get a better phone, I said I didn't want to spend the money, and he just snorted, pulled out his shiny new Android, and said "what are you talking about? I got this for free!". When I said that was great, could he pick up another one for me, since it was free, he said "well, of course you have to sign up for a plan, but everyone is on a plan".

No, not really.

My free S8 phone is on a prepaid plan that's Cdn$129 a year. That's a significant increase from the Cdn$25 a year plan I used to have, but that was discontinued when 3G was cut off. Although to be fair, that plan cost 25¢ a minute for talk, either 5¢ or 10¢ per text, and had zero data, while the one I have now is unlimited talk/text, and 20GB data for the year, of which I've used... 230MB, or 1.15% of my annual data allotment, in four months.

I know people who spend more than $129 a month on their phones. They can't believe that I get by with a decade old phone on an $11 a month plan; I can't believe they spend over $1,000 on a phone that they only use for two years, and often more than that just to use the thing.

[MachDiamond]

Re: I've been delaying for almost a decade now, and in no rush

"I'm astounded at the number of people who don't understand that "free" just means "included"."

"Unlimited" is a word thrown around that doesn't mean what people think it means when it comes to phone service. Fairly commonly, it tops out at 36gB/month. That's a lot, or used to be, but not "unlimited" in the sense people were taught in primary school. It would be awesome if I could get a truly unlimited plan and send photo files back to my computer at home to start the process of converting from RAW to .dng and applying my standard presets. I'm not sure that the upload would finish before I got back in my office and uploaded the images manually, but it could happen. On days when I book more than one job or I have significant travel, I take the laptop and get it blazing hot with the pre-editing work while I drive. I'm sure that's peeling life off of it every time I do that. I'd use up that 36GB pretty quick and then have to pay for more or get dropped down to much slower speeds that could be a hassle if needed higher speeds for something.

Just more reasons why slogging through the fine print is vitally important.

[DJ_]

Another vote for the iPhone 13

Treated myself to an iPhone 13 Pro (for the first and likely only time) Max from John Lewis the week Apple announced the iPhone 14 in 2022 - so saved a few quid on the price. Mind-blowingly good camera, and otherwise does all the boring stuff I need it to do. Browse the web, WhatsApp for chats, various banking and language apps, ZERO social media.

I genuinely love the phone and take care of it. After 3.5 years of use, battery was down to 80% but still more than acceptable. But had it officially replaced a month back so we're now back to 100% and it's like new again.

I've learnt to buy several new cases when I get a new phone which I did with this - as often the better "premium" cases aren't available a few years down the line. Failing that, there's always NOS decent cases on eBay. Unless it gets unwittingly dropped down a ravine (and I don't spend much time around them) or packs up I am fully intend on running this for another 3.5 years minimum and who knows maybe longer.

Yes, I'll buy another iPhone one day I am sure. But there is nothing in current line up that tempts me so even that dial would've need to have moved on a long way to tempt me away from my 13.

Beer for Friday everyone ->

[VoiceOfTruth]

Correction

>> the Iran war

The USA's war against Iran. Long wanted by, caused by, and started by the USA.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Correction

>> the Iran war

>> The USA's war against Iran. Long wanted by, caused by, and started by the USA.

Israel and the USA's war against Iran. Long wanted by, caused by, and started by Israel, and Donald Trump’s USA.

[Roland6]

Re: Correction

And everyone else getting called out for not blindly jumping on the bandwagon…

[Blue Screen of Bleurgh]

Storage and memory suppliers turned their noses up at the consumer sector earlier this year when they saw bigger profit margins geared towards all things AI in the commercial sector.

Computer manufacturers felt this knock on effect almost straight away, and now of course the IoT and smartphone divisions are noticing similar falls in consumer demand for new kit for a variety of reasons.

But as others here have said, phone makers such as Samsung and Apple are finding it difficult to sell the latest phones not only because of the reasons stated in this article, but because whatever new features they try to upsell as something hugely spectacular and life-changing, really isn't in the cold light of day, especially with the pushback against AI features and the "whatever!" with latest camera features.

There is only so much a smartphone can do and I think we've almost reached that plateau. For most ordinary users they're happy with what they've got and will keep them for a good 4 or 5 years. Whereas the sheeple will still fret about not having the latest "number" in the phone brand, but even they are starting to think twice about the need to show off their latest iPhone/Samsung Galaxy.

[Roland6]

It’s an opportunity for vendors to provide software updates with a price attached. I’m sure they could do this through the mobile billing system, so it just gets treated like a premium rate text message.

Just think they could provide battery, screen etc. replacement and OS upgrade services… Mind you as a user of a Huawei P30 Pro (2019, EMUI 12 - Android 10) I am being exceedingly wishful to expect a newer version of Android or even a fix for the camera zoom bug…

[Anonymous Coward]

Please find me something

to tempt me off my Galaxy Note 9.

Coming up on 1TB of storage, USB-C and wireless charging, still as quick to use as you'd expect from a flagship, the only worry being security updates.

I use newer phones for work, and the Mrs likes to get the latest phone models, so I'm not unaware of improvements... it's just that the improvements are so minimal I'm now at the point where I'm expecting to see this reach its first decade of use!

[Uncle Slacky]

Nine years and counting...

... and my secondhand (inherited from wife) Moto G5S keeps on running (with LineageOS the last few years, though even that support has ended now). I don't use it for much, so it's unlikely to be replaced unless the battery dies, I guess.

[Boris56789]

Phone improvements have stagnated like the market, so no shock really..

In reality all tech hits a point that everyone who wants one in markets has them and if you don't have something that massively changes things, why change up.

Phone since 2010 or earlier :

* Fast charge / Super charge

* 5 yrs of security patches or 2 or 3 android or IOS updates

* Wallet / Apple Pay - you can pay bus, transport, food , shopping you name it with a tap.

* Online Banking

* Shopping

* Utilities

* VOD services

* Health Services

* Games

* Fits in pockert

* Couple of days bat or longer

* Water resistant

* Same design for 10 yrs or longer

* Charge on pad or cable

* Decent Camera

* Web Access

* GPS / Maps

* Biometrics

* 3g, 4g, 5g

* Bluetooth version of some sort - supporting peripherals.

Everythink these phone can do has not really been jump in recent yrs.

* Flexi phone - more of a gimmick than real need

* Bigger phone - less easy to hold

* Some colour options

* Slight new bat tech

* New G versions of networks is just that bit faster - but no real uses for it

Everything someone could want you have in most phones that are 5, 10yrs or even 15 yrs old, depending on what you want and most software os not changing much easier and ported to most devices anyway.

I can only see when we get to some sort of no invasive tech that - acts as a personal and visible hologram functionality where you can do what you did before, but don't need to hold, or charge it in anyway and works off body natural electrical current then you might have the next shift.

Something you just take with you and can interact with, but is non -obvious to anyone else - like we talk for bluetooth headphones and strangers talking to the air as normal now for example.

Nothing screams I am new, I am a must have and you cannot do this before me.

* Slight improved camera

*

[Roland6]

Re: Phone improvements have stagnated like the market, so no shock really..

Missing from your list:

* car connection. I have found it really useful having my phone automatically connect to the car’s entertainment system and thus automatically handle hands free calling and play of music and podcasts.

*ANT2 connectivity has been good for connecting to various bits of bike tech…

* Processing performance - comparing my P30 Pro (2019) with my partners more recent Samsung, the only noticeable difference is the version of Android…

[JohnHopkins]

Right, they've hit the price where they're no longer worth the upgrade "just because".

[ben kendim]

It's not an upgrade. It's an update, which usually means 'downgrade'.

[ben kendim]

It's not the money, it's the Google AI enshittification that's driving me away...

I have been using Android since the original Motorola Droid. I have multiple lines with unlimited data on Google Fi as the carrier.

I am not worried about privacy. I am aware Google has all our contacts list, call records, locations, SMS'es, photos for the last few decades.

I am not that worried about what a Pixel 10 XL Pro costs.

But I will be damned if I pay one penny to buy a phone that has built in AI crap of any sort (e.g., Gemini) that can not be *totally* removed. And now even Google Maps has AI Know Before You Go baked in and can not be removed. For years I used flagship Pixel's, but had enough of the enshittification that a couple of years ago I went to a Samsung A16 5G, which I spent a lot of time de-Samsungifying, then de-Googling as much as I can.

I would have happily bought a top of the line Pixel, but I have had enough! With the deadline coming up on not being able to sideload apps, and the locking down of the Playstore, it will be a cold day in hell if I buy a Google phone again, or stay on Google Fi. I now spend about $400 a month on Fi for five phones, which I will move to another carrier when I de-Google my life in August, right after I come back from international travel.

There was an article for non-Google and non-Apple smartphones which I will need to find again. Any recommendations from here for devices that run Linux or clean Android would be welcome...