Nothing CEO Says Company Won't Launch New Flagship Smartphone Every Year 'For the Sake of It' (youtube.com)
- Reference: 0180685696
- News link: https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/26/01/29/1338204/nothing-ceo-says-company-wont-launch-new-flagship-smartphone-every-year-for-the-sake-of-it
- Source link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCtmLIGFBSc
"We're not just going to churn out a new flagship every year for the sake of it, we want every upgrade to feel significant," Carl Pei [1]said in a video . "Just because the rest of the industry does things a certain way it doesn't mean we will do the same."
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCtmLIGFBSc
So if I get it right... (Score:3)
They've got Nothing to show for it.
Makes sense (Score:2, Informative)
There aren't enough advancements each year to warrant a new model smart phone.
Re: (Score:2)
I'd say having the camera lenses in different positions, or making the case in shiny white instead of glossy white, should count as a significant advancement.
Upgrade every year or an new option every year? (Score:1)
The idea that a phone has to be an 'upgrade' of the previous phone is laugable.
Apple releases an iPhone every year. I buy a iPhone every 3-4 years. I'm glad they release one every year so that when I'm ready I'm getting the latest battery/cpu/gpu/memory tech and not the tech that came out 2 years ago.
I guess his thought is you buy a nothing phone and then every time one comes out you 'upgrade'. That is madness.
Re: (Score:2)
> I guess his thought is you buy a nothing phone and then every time one comes out you 'upgrade'. That is madness.
What he says: "we want every upgrade to feel significant"
What you read: "every time one comes out you 'upgrade'."
There is a vast distance between the one thing and the other. Do you not know how to read, or not know what feelings are?
Re: (Score:2)
So I have a 4 year old phone. Will their 2 year old phone feel significant compared to the company that put out a phone this year?
Basically you are on their upgrade train or you are investing in older technology when you buy their phone. That's what not putting out a upgraded model yearly does.
Re: (Score:2)
> The idea that a phone has to be an 'upgrade' of the previous phone is laugable.
> Apple releases an iPhone every year. I buy a iPhone every 3-4 years. I'm glad they release one every year so that when I'm ready I'm getting the latest battery/cpu/gpu/memory tech and not the tech that came out 2 years ago.
> I guess his thought is you buy a nothing phone and then every time one comes out you 'upgrade'. That is madness.
Same here. I have my 13 pro Max, and haven't been convinced to go to the 17. Maybe what they come out with next.
People worried about a new phone every year, are adopting a weird attitude. Car models change all the time. And just because a new version of a car model exists doesn't mean that everyone will get a new car every year - only when they need one.
Nothing is a stupid name (Score:2)
Why are they called Nothing?
It reminds me of the old joke (maybe apocryphal ) that in some circles they would name their servers after components. So you'd get conversations like "Yeah, the hard disk in RAM has gone down, so I'll need to bring up HARDDISK, and switch out NETWORKCARD to maintain continuity of the network for PCI's services."
Or the best wifi password which is "fourwords", :
Guest: "What's the Wi-Fi password?"
You: "fourwords."
Guest: "Okay, what are they?"
You: "No, it's just 'fourwords',
Re: (Score:2)
I have a friend with a bar and the the wifi password is youhavetobuyadrink.
Deflecting (Score:5, Insightful)
That's because they don't have the ability to, not because they choose not to. They've struggled to launch anything and the prospect of having to keep up with the industry is far beyond their abilities. This is simply an excuse not to keep up.
Re: (Score:2)
It's probably even worse. They put ads in the OS, including lock screen a couple of months ago.
Their audience is enthusiasts. The people who care about this sort of enshittification far more than pretty much any other target group.
So now you have to put out a new phone to stay with the cycle, while your main audience has fresh memory of you having an absolutely epic fuck up. Chances of them buying anything new from Nothing, or recommending it are basically zero. Their company is fucked for a few months, unt
Re: (Score:2)
From a cold business perspective, yeah. Yearly releases keep you competitive at the top end and tempt your most liquid of customers to upgrade more and more. From a philosphical perspective, phones are a solved problem for most people, and upgrades aren't really what they once were. I could see someone believing yearly releases are wasteful. The cynic in me says the're probably just not able to keep up, though. Phone design must be expensive and skilled work that demands high coordination.
The company slogan... (Score:2)
"Move along, [1]Nothing to see here [youtube.com]."
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYMjvXdrZIw
Costs catch up to you (Score:2)
You need more people and time to do a launch everyyear, probably when somebody actually figured out the cost of it they backed off. Hardware is hard.
How 'bout that? (Score:2, Troll)
I can't tell you how excited I am about them not releasing a new phone this year!
Might as well make my own announcement. I will not be going to the moon this year. Possibly to hell, however.