Mainstream Modularity — LG G5.
The iPhone kickstarted the smartphone industry 9 years ago in the year 2007. Clunky, brick-like phones that featured a measly computer chip — only capable of text messaging, calling and some light applications — were being replaced by a new class of phones that had big, beautiful displays and powerful processors. This new class of cell phones was so revolutionary that they would be introduced to the world as ‘smartphones’.
Many companies such as Samsung, LG, HTC, Apple and Motorola created their own versions of the smartphone to take control of the then infant industry — at the time of writing this article, the total global revenue from the sales involving smartphones top $250,000,000,000 (250 billion dollars). Each of these companies tried to create a customer base by largely innovating upon form factor and providing features that their competitors didn’t. Each subsequent year, smartphones became more powerful — smartphones today are as powerful as some entry model personal computers -, had better displays — a 4K display is the standard in 2016 — and had amazing cameras.
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The uber-powerful smartphones of 2015.[/caption]
This onset of new pocketable technology led to the improvement of lives all across the globe. One could keep in touch with his family and friends, take amazing pictures of moments he wanted to preserve, listen to music and also play graphic intensive games on the same pocket friendly device. He was even provided with a better model each year. However, this ever-evolving cycle of releasing much more powerful and much more beautiful phones each year came at a certain cost, a constant want to upgrade. As human beings, we always want to own the best possible version of an object — the best car, the best house and now, the best smartphone. The updates through the early years of the industry were breathtaking and inventive because of the infant nature of the form factor as a whole — seemingly more revolutionary updates; but as the industry matured, the updated model of a flagship series phone started getting more incremental updates each year — the S6 and the S7 or the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6S. Despite the flattening of ‘revolutionary updates’ in the industry, the demand for smartphones has remained constant throughout time leading to a lot of wastage of consumer money. The constant pool of revenue has also deviated most companies away from taking bold risks with their phones. Updates that could have been simple add ons to already existing smartphones are being priced and sold at full price by cellphone manufacturers.
Think of it this way — Each time a company releases a new phone, people get divided into three categories based on their opinion about the new device — people who are satisfied with the update provided, people who want certain features present in offerings by competitors, and trolls. A majority of people belong in the second group of this categorisation. If you overhear a group of teenagers, each with a smartphone from a different manufacturer, you would be able to hear what their dream smartphone is. Teenager A would want a display panel produced by Samsung in a body designed by HTC; whereas Teenager B would want a camera module that was produced by Nokia fitted inside a rugged and tough body built by Motorola. With the way the industry currently operates, such ‘dream phones’ are simply manifestations of our desire; however, with the modular concept, one could buy a ‘base’ (body of the the phone) from HTC and add different ‘blocks’ or ‘lego pieces’ — such as a display module from Samsung, a processor module from Qualcomm and a camera module from Nokia — to it. One would be able to mix and match parts to create a smartphone that is built to cater their individual needs. A photographer could build a phone that focuses on taking great pictures; on the other hand, a mounatineer could build a phone that focuses on ruggedness and battery life. This method would not only allow the customer to stick to a basic ‘base’ phone for longer periods of time — the average lifespan of a smartphone is 12–18 months before which it is replaced -, but also would give the customer more flexibility and choice in terms of features they can have in their own phone. The concept of modularity has endlesss possibilities and it would allow the smartphone to live up to its name by truly catering to every individual’s personal needs.
The following video demonstrates the concept of modular phones.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDAw7vW7H0c[/embed]
In late 2013, Motorola — owned by Google — had announced Project Ara to try and solve the problem of incremental phone hardware upgrades that prompted people to want to buy a new phone each year. Simply put, the upgrades could be installed consumers’ “obsolete” phones by swapping out parts of the phone. This concept would also allow consumers who had broken components (block) to simply replace that component with another of the same variety, thereby saving time and money. Project Ara was supposed to undergo a beta test run in the city of Puerto Rico late last year; but, due to some technical glitches in the prototype, Google pushed back the launch of the pilot program to the later half of this year. LG, however, beat Google to the modular phone market with the announcement and launch of its somewhat modular LG G5 flagship device at Mobile World Congress 2016.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=intua_p4kE0[/embed]
The LG G5 is not a completely modular phone, but it is a step in the right direction. The phone features a slide out battery design (the following picture should help you with visualising it). The lower end of the phone pops out — with the battery — at the press of a button and allows the user to replace it with another module.
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The LG G5 has a slide out battery mechanism that can be replaced with various other modules — or ‘friends’ as LG calls them.[/caption]
The battery can then be simply attached to another module which aims to add some form of additional functionality to the phone. The new module can then be slided back up the base of the phone till it clicks in place. LG calls these additional, supplementary modules ‘friends’ for the G5. At MWC, LG announced two modules for the G5 — one that adds hardware camera controls and one from Bang and Olufsen that adds an amplifier to the phone. They also added that there will be several new modules that will be launched throughout the course of the year.
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The LG G5 with the camera module attached to it.[/caption]
Even though, the LG G5 wasn’t completely modular and doesn’t allow the consumer to change core components such as the processor and the display, it’s a step in the right direction. It gives consumers some form of flexibility and choice to make the device their own and allows them to plug in modules that make the phone work for their own personal needs. Modular smartphones are going to disrupt the smartphone industry in the next few years and the first company to create a truly modular phone will dominate the entire smartphone industry once and for all. LG has taken a headstart with G5; other phone manufacturers, it’s your turn.
