Peak Smartphone: It's Time for Apple and Samsung to Stop Releasing New Phones Every Year

Samsung announced four new additions to the Galaxy family, putting an end to the constant stream of leaks in the lead up to the Unpacked event held yesterday at San Francisco. The phones, Galaxy S10, S10+, S10e and S10 5G, continue the Korean electronics chaebol's time-honoured tradition of checking all the boxes they can in terms of raw specs as the Android-powered high-end S series smartphone enters its tenth year, selling over an impressive two billion devices in as much time. Packing in a dizzying array of rear camera sensors and an ultrasonic in-screen fingerprint reader, the S10 is every phone nerd's wet dream, and Samsung's latest arsenal to take on Apple's iPhone lineup.

The Galaxy S10 family (Image: Samsung)

While props are due for not sticking a notch or getting rid of the headphone jack, the lacklustre sales of these pricey phones are another indication the smartphone market has matured, and that it's time for manufacturers like Samsung and Apple to slow down with the product upgrade cycle, and stop releasing new phones like clockwork every year. Compounding the measured enthusiasm are the lack of any "must-have" features that would make them an enticing upgrade. If anything, the high-end phones coming out today are both the best and most boring, the updates so incremental to the point that the average user may have trouble discerning the improved processor speed, or wider colour gamut, that the new phone offers over last year's.

That isn't to say the Galaxy S10 doesn't have some tricks up its sleeve: the Wireless PowerShare feature that allows the phone to wirelessly charge other Qi standard-compatible devices, including its wireless earbuds Galaxy Buds (that comes with its own wireless charging case) is a genuinely cool addition, as is its more affordable variant Galaxy S10e. But would they be enough to sway more users into the Samsung ecosystem when they can get all the cutting-edge specs in a phone from Xiaomi or OnePlus for a less hefty price? Or be popular enough to gain traction in China where both Samsung and Apple are steadily losing share to rivals like Huawei? Only time will tell.