The iPhone X's notch will be everywhere, and we're to blame
Asus ZenFone 5 and 5Z, Wiko View 2 and 2 Pro, Ulefone T2 Pro and the unannounced Huawei P20 and OnePlus 6 have one thing in common with the iPhone X: a notch on the display. It does seem, however, that the implementation of this kind of notch is not entirely due to these manufacturers’ desire to copy Apple’s iconic device. It’s also what consumers are demanding. That’s right, consumers like you and me!
History tells us that lesser-known manufacturers imitate successful products
The smartphone market has exploded. The world has no longer been the same since the first iPhone was released and smartphones have become more and more part of our daily life. But there is one thing that hasn’t changed since then: the lesser-known manufacturers try to imitate or ‘take inspiration’ from successful products.
Can you still remember Samsung’s first smartphones? I personally owned the first Galaxy S (i9000) and I was extremely satisfied with it, but it is impossible to deny that the smartphone tried to borrow some of the main features of Apple’s already established iPhone, and it wasn’t the only device to do so.
Times have gradually changed and smartphones have evolved as a result, diversifying into a thousand different shapes and sizes with features that are particular to each model, especially in the Android world. The tendency to copy Apple has also declined (with a few exceptions), which has allowed users to buy devices that are more and more adapted to their needs.
In the beginning of 2018, however, we’ve witnessed another reversal of this trend. At the Mobile World Congress just held in Barcelona we saw a number of devices that remind us of… the iPhone X.
Why did everyone go crazy over the notch?
Why is it that some of the OEMs have decided to forsake years of development and the evolution of their products and resumed copying some very characteristic design traits, effectively bringing us back to the times of war between Samsung and Apple?
The answer is simple and the truth is ugly. But it was us, the market, that asked for it so we can’t complain.
I’ll share with you what I heard from some conversation that I had with company representatives at the fair in Barcelona. It seems that users do in fact like the notch, which has been greatly discussed and criticized. Of course, I don’t want to generalize, but we know that these kinds of decisions are made according to important market research and don’t necessarily reflect the views of the people who make the decisions.
Some of the most famous companies like Samsung and Sony have decided to maintain the originality of their products because they have a large enough share of the international markets (not just with smartphones) to allow them to, but the smaller brands and even Huawei (provided the leaks are true) have moved to the notch solution mainly for this reason.
The iPhone is still a status symbol
Apparently, Apple’s smartphone is still a status symbol and it’s a pleasure to own. People who don’t have the budget to afford the original model and even those who don’t want to venture into the Apple ecosystem are still jealous.
To push this seemingly substantial portion of the market onto their products, OEMs chose to take inspiration from the layout of the iPhone X display, and some even took inspiration from the vertical layout of the dual camera.
Personally, I am really sorry to see how these companies have sold their souls to the devil instead of trying to bring original and innovative products to the market and I think that, at least in the short-term, we’ll have to resign ourselves to the idea of repeating the phrase ‘but it looks like an iPhone’, just like in the stone age of smartphones.
What do you think of this recent development? Do you believe the market is slowing down after years of innovation or do you think this is just a transitional moment toward a more diverse future?
I think Android is top notch and I am very happy with my new galaxy A6. I find this discussion about some stupid notch ridiculous. I don't buy red devices, don't like apple, don't wanna pay a lot of money for a phone, always had good experience with cheaper or refurbished samsung devices.
I feel like it is more stupid corporations thinking Apple is still a player. The smarter companies know they should still mimick and copy Xiaomi since that's the era of the industry we currently live.
Xiaomi mi 8 looks very similar to the iPhone X and has a notch... 😉
https://www.androidpit.com/oneplus-6-vs-xiaomi-mi-8
Thank you Sammy no ridiculous NOTCH, way to go. Plus finally stereo speaker's & ear buds in the box, way to go. The most feature packed phone on the planet, way to go!
It's coming. Make no mistake
Actually that title goes to the Mi MIX 2S. When was the last time Samsung even sold out of a phone?
before I finish reading this article take tht notch and shove it ! so now I have read it my first thought still stand N8 guy and love it all 6.2 inch screen and no BS notch for tht kind of money shame shame shame ☺ !
Mi MIX girl and love my 6.4" screen also with no notch. The no notch rebellion begins here!
Any thing you can do we can do better,the other companies singing to Apple,Apple must laugh there heads off when anything they offer the others have to copy it,and now there pricing policy is just spoiling the mobile market,as Apple got away over pricing there phones so now the others are just copying there trend,2018 sales will struggle this year as people just can't afford the new phones,as Chinese phones will become more popular as there more affordable
A lot of my friends are putting new batteries in their older i-phones. They tell me there sick of the high prices. Replacing the battery helps them restoring their older phones to how they performed when new. They also told me why upgrade when their older phones are good enough. Apple made a huge mistake slowing the older phones down, plus they really do not want to spend the money on the X!
I think they should read the news about how Apple stopped production of iPhone X completely and are planning to phase it out for the next iPhone.
I've always been one to "buck the trend". I remember my first large screen phone in 2010, the Dell Streak 5, at the time the 3.5" iPhone screen was king of the roost. I'd have people lay their phones over mine, saying my screen was larger than their entire phone. People would say why would you want such a HUGE phone? Ummm...because (at the time I just started wearing bifocals...the larger screen suited me) I wanted one? a couple of phones later, I got a Huawei Mate2. People were asking why would you get a no name (at the time) phone? Ummmm...because the flipping battery was HUGE, would make it through sometimes 2 days of use easy, didn't need to be charged as much. The phone that it replaced, the first Samsung Galaxy Note, I had to charge it so much, I flat had worn out the charger port THREE TIMES...got to where I could take it apart, swap out the charge port, have it back together in about 15 minutes!
My personal vehicle for the last 30+ years, have been Mustang's. I've had 5. The last one, my current, is a 2011. When I got it, someone asked, you got ANOTHER Mustang? But why? Everyone is driving SUV's? Well, I LIKE Mustang's, I don't care what everyone else is driving.
I never understood the keeping up with the Jones' stuff. Hey, if that's what you want...so be it. Not my concern or money, but I don't get it.
For me it's clear notch = no buy. If we all do it, it'll disappear for sure. At the end what every brand want is sell phones right? If the notch if the problem of the low sales after asking people why they don't like the phone, is as easy to solve as remove it.
I'd never get a phone with a notch. Hopefully there are enough people who agree to keep companies from staying on this trend for long.
I don't think that's going to happen. Apple sets what goes on.
Only for stupid people. The smartphone industry is home to very dumb corporations and very smart users. This move is a great thing for smart corporations like Xiaomi that still innovate because we already saw the iPhone's sales tank and their position in the global market drop because of hte iPhone X so all these copycats are probably going to go belly up. That means guys like Xiaomi and Lenovo will take their place this year. Xiaomi must have predicted this too since they are planning the world's highest IPO this year.
Only problem is if Apple does it and they have a large enough presence, it will be on Android phones. So you need to tell iOS users to stop buying them....good luck!!
iOS users would buy crap on a stick if it was called iCraponastick.
So after all that, what is the notch for?
It houses the camera and light sensors and so on. In many people's version of an ideal phone the screen stretches right to the edge on all sides. However the top of most every phone is that cluster of camera and sensors but normally reside in the bezel. Coincidentally the center section of the notification status bar is usually pretty empty. So you can give the illusion of stretching the screen all the way to the upper edge by housing the sensors in a notch in the display. Visually it works because that area is usually dead space in that bar. Apple's notch is pretty egregiously large.
The end result is a somewhat visually improved phone, for certain values of improved, with more screen for less volume of phone.