It may be hard to believe but it looks like the smartphone boom is about to go bust. According to market research group Gartner Inc., worldwide smartphone sales will increase by just 7% in 2016, a long way off the 73% growth the industry saw just six years ago. IDC Research predicts an even slower growth of only 3.1%.
Several reasons have been cited for the steep drop in smartphone purchases. The obvious one is that the market has just maxed out with markets in North America, Europe, Japan and more mature Asia and Pacific already reaching a penetration of 90 percent. Even China which was supposed to be the next big smartphone center for smartphone growth was flat in 2015 with little growth expected over the next five years according to Gartner.
In addition to market saturation, stagnant growth can be attributed to more savvy consumers who know when and where to purchase their handsets at discount prices and they are keeping them longer than they otherwise would because the annual upgrades are not offering enough changes from the previous versions.
A fundamental shift in smartphone design or function by any of the major technology companies could lift sales in all of them. Lenovo, which was the fourth-biggest smartphone vendor in the fourth-quarter of 2015 and is looking to push its way back into the top five vendor list, seems to be one step ahead of the game with its recent handset. The Chinese electronics giant is challenging Apple and Samsung by joining forces with Google to offer augmented reality on a Motorola smartphone that will also offer a range of snap-on accessories.
Google’s Project Tango
Google's Project Tango is a technology platform that allows mobile devices to use augmented reality (AR) – the ability to superimpose computer images onto the real world and have them interact with objects in the picture. Lenovo's new PHAB2 Pro is the first smartphone to be powered by Tango. The 6.4 inch device, unveiled Thursday, has a so-called "quad HD" screen and uses Qualcomm's Snapdragon 652 processor. Lenovo's camera, which has 16 megapixels, contains special depth-sensing hardware that allows it to use AR technology.
According to Lenovo, the Tango technology can be employed in many areas. Here are a few:
When it comes to education, the platform provides students with the ability to superimpose images from the past—such as prehistoric animals or past political figure--on a real time background so they come alive and motivate additional exploration.
The platform can also be used in gaming where users of a game can shoot objects traveling around the room rather than from a static position.
Indoor areas can be mapped making users feel like they are actually walking around a museum, cathedral or historic building by holding their phone up to a work of art, architectural frieze or classical monument and receiving detailed information about what they see.
And interior designers and realtors can use Tango to position furniture in a home so a buyer ‘sees’ how it will look when complete.
Augmented reality is also seen as a big growth area for giants such as Microsoft and Google and it could be the very change needed to boost sagging smartphone sales.