Surprise surprise smartphone sales go down again. According to the technology analyst firm IDC, phone sales are down by nearly 15 percent year-over-year in the first quarter of 2023. This is a continuation of a decline that began last year; sales have been falling for the past few fiscal quarters.
Much of the slowdown is likely due to a confluence of pandemic-related economic factors, including chaotic supply lines and skyrocketing inflation. But another thing that might explain why fewer people are buying phones is that, for the most part, the phones are perfectly fine. Modern smartphones have stagnantboth in terms of its design and the capabilities of its software, and the future of phones it’s likely to involve slow, iterative improvements rather than big leaps that warrant faster updates.
The response from smartphone manufacturers to this drop in sales, at least on the surface, has been a resounding “this is fine.” Companies aren’t going to stop releasing new devices on a yearly basis any time soon. They are also trying to build interest and excitement by testing new form factors. Google reportedly plans to announce a $1,700 foldable Pixel phone at his IO event on May 10 that he hopes will get people excited about his phones.
Here’s more tech news.
an apple a day
Apple has been in the health tracking game for a while. Whereas now. In 2020, the company launched Apple+ Fitnessits nifty Peloton competitor service that syncs with its best-selling apple watch. Now Apple appears to be planning an expansion of the service, powered by artificial intelligence.
According to Mark Gurman in bloomberg, apple is expanding its digital health services to include personalized physical training and emotion tracking. Services may also emerge in a new version of the Health app on the iPad. The AI-powered part of the app is said to be able to take data from your wearable devices and make health suggestions throughout the day, such as when to exercise and how to eat healthier.
Apple’s mood tracker and some other health features are expected to be announced during the world developer conference at the beginning of June. The training features will likely not roll out until later this year.
finite halo
In non-health news, Amazon has decided close its Halo line of products. That means the end of Amazon’s Halo fitness trackers and alarm clocks that track your sleep. Halo devices were never big in the fitness market, but they were wacky and creepy. Fitness trackers have been pitched as capable of monitoring nearly every aspect of the person wearing them, including monitoring your emotions and scanning your body fat. Amazon says its Halo devices will stop working on July 31, but the company will offer refunds to anyone who has purchased a Halo device in the last year.
Amazon has been interested in reduce costs throughout its operations. He trimmed his echo offerings in November and has laid off employees at his human resources, cloud computingand drones divisions. But don’t be fooled by Halo’s closure: the company is still very interested in health. (Especially all that sweet, sweet patient’s data.) Amazon is going ahead with its Amazon Clinic telehealth service, and in February completed your acquisition from One Medical, a primary care provider.
Gadget Lab Broadcast
Balls. About half the people on this planet have them, but unsightly coats tend to be pointedly ignored in much of polite society. Recently, dozens of companies have begun capitalizing on the scrotum, selling gonadal ball-cleansing fluids, lotions, and deodorants. Companies have long exploited society’s beauty standards to sell products to women, and now it’s men’s turn. For the most part, the marketing has worked, turning men’s grooming products into a $70 billion industry in just a few short years.
this week in the gadget lab podcastWIRED’s lead fact-checker, Zak Jason, joins the show for a straightforward conversation about your experience with scrotal sprays and the wide world of men’s beauty products.
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