Shulou(Shulou.com)06/03 Report--

The "urban legend" of modular mobile phones comes back every few years, but each time it ends in defeat. From Google's concept product Project Ara at the beginning, to Motorola Moto Z3, which has entered the market. These products are either aborted in concept or do not make much waves in the market.

The reasons for this have been analyzed before, the most important of which lies in the product itself. For example, when mobile phones become thinner and thinner, the behavior of "adding components" will inevitably lead to heavy mobile phone shape, contrary to the popular aesthetic trend; and even if many modular mobile phones are equipped with components, it is not the best solution to improve performance. For example, the cost performance of battery components is not as good as fast charging and charging treasure, and the performance of camera components is not as good as AI algorithm optimization camera function.

Recently, however, modular phones have made a comeback: Motorola plans to launch the Moto Z4, which is also a modular phone, and Vivo is rumored to launch the Nex 2, which can move the rear camera to the front.

These rumors also give us an opportunity to re-examine modular mobile phones.

Can more fertile technology soil bear the fruit of modular mobile phones?

From a technical point of view, is the current technical soil more suitable for the growth of modular mobile phones than in the past? We can see the following changes:

First, the emergence of 5G technology

Judging from the current situation of 5G pilot development, the popularization of 5G must be phased. One is the regional phase, we will face the use of 5G in some places, WiFi/4G in others; and then the application phase, we will experience some App application 5G, and some App does not have the application situation.

At this time, if 5G technology is released and carried in a modular manner, it can meet the different needs of users. For example, users located in areas with 5G technology, or users with frequent demand for 5G applications, can purchase corresponding modules. At present, modular mobile phone manufacturers represented by Moto Z4 have launched 5G module plans.

Second, the flexibility of the original mobile phone

With the development of flexible screen technology, we can already see some prototypes of folding mobile phones on the market. With the launch of folding phones, mobile phones are jumping sideways from mobile phones/tablets, and perhaps a new form of bracelet will be added in the future. Different terminal forms mean different hardware requirements. A tablet requires a larger battery, but a bracelet doesn't need two cameras.

Under the transformation of mobile phone form, different hardware required by different forms can also appear in modular form.

Third, mobile phone manufacturers software technology capabilities to enhance

In the previous era of modular mobile phones, mobile phone manufacturers 'software capabilities were basically not high, and they could only stack hardware performance to improve the application experience of mobile phones. However, the existence of various Turbo technologies and AI technologies is helping mobile phone products to better utilize their hardware capabilities as never before.

That is to say, nowadays, if the module method is used to improve the hardware performance of the mobile phone. The difference in experience brought by modular phones will be magnified to achieve the effect of four or two thousand pounds.

Can manufacturers bear the consequences of subtraction for mobile phones?

However, the improvement of technical soil is still difficult to hide the poor market soil of modular mobile phones.

In fact, the reason why modular mobile phones make people remember is because the form of this product is really attractive. Like assembling desktops, it is really a good thing for consumers to match personalized products that meet their needs. But for manufacturers, it is hard to say how much benefit can be brought.

In fact, in the mobile phone industry, consumers have been paying for "hardware premium." Perhaps some people need a battery with stronger battery life, others need a more powerful rear camera, and others need a front camera... stronger battery, stronger rear camera, stronger front camera, etc. A series of hardware upgrades must appear together.

From a consumer's point of view, perhaps he attracted him only to the update of the rear camera, but when he bought the product, he was also paying for the battery, the front camera and even the beauty algorithm upgrade.

If modularization is implemented, the purchasing power of users with different needs is likely to be dispersed. Users are likely to buy only the "basic" model plus the modules they need, and overall spending is likely to decline.

On the other hand, the replacement speed of mobile phones may also decrease as a result.

At present, flagship phones of various brands are updated every year. If they are changed to modular mode, users are likely to update only modules but not hosts according to their own needs. Vendors, whether limiting commonality between modules and hosts or enhancing changes from generation to generation, are not very efficient solutions.

Therefore, from a market perspective, developing and promoting modular mobile phones is not a good choice.

to a wider, wider runway.

In this way, modular phones seem to have difficulty finding a solid path to development in the mainstream market.

But in other words, those mobile phone use scenarios that are not "everyday" are not a suitable development path for modular mobile phones? The mobile game is a good example. With the popularity of MOBA mobile games such as "King's Glory" and e-sports, there is a magical product called external joystick on the market. For people who have higher requirements for mobile games, they need this module to enhance the game experience.

Similarly, in other areas of interest, people have different needs for Mobile device. For example, a smartphone manufacturer in Shenzhen has launched a modular phone for outdoor enthusiasts, equipped with night vision camera module, radio module and battery module. Meet the special needs of outdoor enthusiasts for night photography, radio communication and lack of power while camping.

In this category of products we see a brand-new idea, modular mobile phone is not to split the functions of mainstream mobile phone products into modules for people to buy and disperse consumption; but to modularize those functions that have not appeared on mobile phones in the past to concentrate users 'consumption.

Game controller, night vision, telephoto fisheye and other different lenses, radio microphone... These functions and products may not be needed by everyone, but mobile phones are owned by everyone. Concentrating these functions on the phone, expanding the capabilities of the phone rather than doing subtraction, is the bright road to modular phones.

Welcome to subscribe "Shulou Technology Information " to get latest news, interesting things and hot topics in the IT industry, and controls the hottest and latest Internet news, technology news and IT industry trends.