The phone market is being pulled in several directions at once. A global memory chip shortage has pushed smartphone shipments down to some of their lowest levels in years, with analysts noting that only the biggest players, namely Apple and Samsung, have the scale and supplier relationships to absorb the hit. Smaller brands are feeling it more acutely.
OnePlus is a case in point. The company has effectively stepped back from competing seriously in the US and European markets, choosing to concentrate on regions where it already has stronger footing rather than keep fighting for share against Apple and Samsung on their home turf.
On the software side, Apple is trying to make its existing phones feel new again. The public beta of its long-awaited Siri overhaul gives the assistant much deeper access to apps and on-device actions, and early impressions suggest it changes daily habits more than a typical yearly update would. With hardware upgrades constrained by component costs, software may end up doing more of the work to keep upgrade cycles interesting this year.
