Demand for Smartphones is Slowing, Says Apple Supplier TSMC

[DanteHicks79]

Batteries aren’t a good reason to upgrade imo when they’re replaced with new for $70 or less. And I haven’t heard of thermally damaged components in phones. Is that a thing?

There is almost noting in the way of cooling measures inside smart phones, and I've consistently had multiple iPhones become hot enough to the touch that I removed them from my pocket and set them on an open surface to chill for a while.

Oftentimes, the phone doesn't even seem to be doing anything visibly taxing. Probably just indexing and the like. But with zero cooling fans, heatsinks, or even air intakes, it isn't so out of line to suggest that heat damage over time is going to render the components less reliable.

My 6S overheated once while charging, and later that day, while shooting a video, it glitched while finishing writing the data for the video file, which in turn the corrupted the entire camera roll. It would attempt to restore, and get all the way to the last video, fail to be able to write it, and then become corrupted all over again. The only solution was to wait several hours for it to attempt to restore again at an Apple Store, and then when the video popped up in the camera roll, they immediately deleted it before it finished attempting to save.

 

[Tagbert]

There is almost noting in the way of cooling measures inside smart phones, and I've consistently had multiple iPhones become hot enough to the touch that I removed them from my pocket and set them on an open surface to chill for a while.

Oftentimes, the phone doesn't even seem to be doing anything visibly taxing. Probably just indexing and the like. But with zero cooling fans, heatsinks, or even air intakes, it isn't so out of line to suggest that heat damage over time is going to render the components less reliable.

My 6S overheated once while charging, and later that day, while shooting a video, it glitched while finishing writing the data for the video file, which in turn the corrupted the entire camera roll. It would attempt to restore, and get all the way to the last video, fail to be able to write it, and then become corrupted all over again. The only solution was to wait several hours for it to attempt to restore again at an Apple Store, and then when the video popped up in the camera roll, they immediately deleted it before it finished attempting to save.

Charging and recording video are two things that will cause overheating. That is one reason why in more recent devices Apple has moved video encoding and decoding more into specialized units in the SOC rather than doing the work in the CPU.

If your phone is overheating in your pocket, it’s probably either because it’s against your skin in a closed environment and maybe on a warm day and can’t shed heat well, or a runaway process on the phone eating through the battery charge or both. If that happens, I would open the phone and kill the one or two most recent apps in the history on the theory that one of them is stuck in a loop and needs to be reset.

 

[DanteHicks79]

Charging and recording video are two things that will cause overheating. That is one reason why in more recent devices Apple has moved video encoding and decoding more into specialized units in the SOC rather than doing the work in the CPU.

If your phone is overheating in your pocket, it’s probably either because it’s against your skin in a closed environment and maybe on a warm day and can’t shed heat well, or a runaway process on the phone eating through the battery charge or both. If that happens, I would open the phone and kill the one or two most recent apps in the history on the theory that one of them is stuck in a loop and needs to be reset.

Oh, for sure. I usually close anything running, and at times, have just shut the phone clean off until it cools a bit.

But my phone was toasty last month when I was in Minneapolis, outside, in -8º. I myself tend to overheat easily, but I doubt I'm casting enough of a glow to warm up my phone ?

 

[Spooner83]

I think the real reason no on is buying phones now is because the price of everything is ridiculous now! Nobody can afford anything.

 

[Bow Commander]

Not surprising. I used to upgrade every 1-2 years until I got the XR. Once subsidies ended, prices went up, battery life and speed went up, I haven't felt the need to upgrade. It blows my mind that I've been using this XR for nearly 4 years and still feels new except a slowly degrading battery.

 

[gugy]

The self-esteem of some people is so fragile it becomes linked to things like this. They simply cannot bear being seen with an older generation. They think that not having the latest model would make them a loser. Apple seems to encourage this by always changing something – often the camera configuration but not always – so you can tell what generation someone has. It's like the whole latest trainers thing.

Anybody that tags a material thing to their self-esteem needs to analyze their life deeply and change for the better.
I can easily make a case that people who barely have much have the stronger minds and personalities out there.
I try to teach that everyday to my kids. Don’t judge people for what they have but who they are.

 

[greenmeanie]

More like Cost of Living is through the roof people can't afford toys anymore.

 

[turbineseaplane]

The smartphone industry has changed many things in life...

• Instant news.
• Always in contact with everybody
• Takes pictures of everything
• Your favourite songs always with you
• Share your... <insert anything people do here>
• 24-7 work literally "anywhere"
• Small-screen gaming
• New form of status symbol
• People for ever looking downwards on their screens

Going through the list..
All of those are "cons" from my standpoint other than "favorite songs always with you"

?

I'm definitely not a luddite, but after a full decade plus of smartphone life, it's become apparent to me how many unforeseen downsides we got along with the positives.

 

[turbineseaplane]

The self-esteem of some people is so fragile it becomes linked to things like this. They simply cannot bear being seen with an older generation. They think that not having the latest model would make them a loser.

You want to hear something funny?

I keep my SE1 in a knockoff silicone case from China that was made to specifically be as close to looking like an Apple Silicone case (modern one) as possible -- a case that Apple themselves never actually made for the SE1. They are sweet cases -- have about 25 of them in different colors/condition as they were like $3 each.

I was at my dentist, and they all thought my phone was some new hot small thing from Apple (I'd put a new case on so it looked really good).

To your point, just "anything different" can be seen as "new" or "better" now.

I really do believe there is room for innovation around small/light/thin with different tradeoffs.

 

[Steve121178]

More like Cost of Living is through the roof people can't afford toys anymore.

Many significant cost of living increases haven't even started yet. Just wait until later in the year when people can no longer afford their utility bills due to the colossal increases.

 

[Jamie0003]

Or so you can bring your parents to the future. I upgrade yearly because I hand them down to people that need them. My mom was on a 7 she got my 12 this year. My dad got my iPhone 11 from my wife and I’ll prolly upgrade this year and give my 13 pro max to my daughter. They would have never done it themselves

You spend $1000 every year just so you can give your family new phones? I mean props to you I guess but this is really weird and impulsive

 

[Karma*Police]

It’s all cyclical. After the past couple of years, and Apple’s blowout quarters, a slowdown was inevitable; inflation or no inflation.

My bigger concern is Apple’s growing QC issues and inability to innovate despite R&D costs skyrocketing to over $22B a year (10x Steve Jobs’ last year as CEO) and Tim Cook making more than the profit of many S&P 500 companies.

And for the people who keep pointing out how the M1 Mac is proof of innovation at Apple, that groundwork was laid by Steve Jobs when he bought PA Semi, not Tim Cook. The $400 hinge to adjust the monitor’s height and $600 wheels to push around the Mac Pro; that’s 100% John Sculley 2.0 aka Tim Cook.

 

[dk001]

Personally I think someone got their forecast wrong.
Now TSMC / Apple might miss their numbers?

 

[turbineseaplane]

My bigger concern is Apple’s growing QC issues

Same. Not great hearing those stories about the new iPad Air

It makes one worry that we may be at the stage of "NEED MORE PROFITZZZZ!" that involves cost cutting that at times becomes noticeable to end users.

The one thing Apple can't dig into is the build quality and reliability of the hardware products
That's ultimately the whole banana here

 

[Bow Commander]

Going through the list..
All of those are "cons" from my standpoint other than "favorite songs always with you"

?

I'm definitely not a luddite, but after a full decade plus of smartphone life, it's become apparent to me how many unforeseen downsides we got along with the positives.

I've often thought about switching back to a dumb phone to see if the impacts on my life are actually substantial or not. I think I'd miss GPS, podcasts and music the most. Those things can be remedied with other devices though. The drawback is the non-smart phones on the market are pretty terrible in quality. The reviews are atrocious, so I haven't done it yet because of that.

 

[IllinoisCorn]

Phones don't change that much from year to year, Apple's hardware is decent and lasts for years, and many people can't afford to replace a phone every year - especially now with the way inflation is hitting every day necessities.

I have a feeling my 12 Pro Max is going to have to last many more years.

 

[IllinoisCorn]

Same. Not great hearing those stories about the new iPad Air

It makes one worry that we may be at the stage of "NEED MORE PROFITZZZZ!" that involves cost cutting that at times becomes noticeable to end users.

The one thing Apple can't dig into is the build quality and reliability of the hardware products
That's ultimately the whole banana here

My 2018 12.9 inch iPad Pro bent as well, as did the iPhone 6 Plus. This has been an issue for Apple for a while now (QC).

 

[turbineseaplane]

My 2018 12.9 inch iPad Pro bent as well, as did the iPhone 6 Plus. This has been an issue for Apple for a while now (QC).

I meant this squeaking or whatever -- sounded somewhat new/unique, no?

Did those older devices squeak too?

 

[Scoob Redux]

I'm blaming the new iPhone SE. Jon himself made a very good point. Stretching the design to far out.

Watch the video from 0:32. Jon stated: Apple is using same old design from the iPhone 6 (September 2014) to sell them in 2022?

What does "stretching the design" mean?

In terms of "old" designs, the age is not important, the quality is. The iPhone 4 had a superior design to the newer iPhone 6, resulting in an original SE which is superior to the newer SE. We need square-edged industrial designs with Touch ID and flush cameras. Not lightweight, curved edge, hard-to-hold phones.

 

[mectojic]

Not upgrading from my SE 1 because:
1. Apple no longer makes a tiny phone
2. No headphone jack
3. No USB-C yet…

 

[Sf844]

Sad world we live in where that is exciting. Sounds pretty pathetic doesn’t it?

Great times when Apple released the first iPad with USBC

I remember I opened a bottle of Chardonnay to celebrate

 

[Michael Scrip]

Even the working poor have smartphones. Saturated market.

That's true. Everybody who wants a smartphone already has one... and has had one for a long time.

But they will buy another smartphone someday. Smartphones get sold every day because there is always somebody who is ready to upgrade today.

It's like shoes. People already have a pair of shoes. Multiple pairs, actually. The shoe market is saturated.

But there are still 18 shoe stores in my town because somebody will buy new shoes today.

 

[Shasterball]

How does that make your phone last longer?

What do you mean?

 

[Okasian]

I’m still on an X and until I get USB-C and a 48MP sensor, there will be no money parting hands with Apple, only $$ to my third party repair shop that does brand new batteries for £20 and OLED front panels for £50.

 

[Fomalhaut]

The prices for new phones is insane. I only upgrade my phone every 3 - 4 years, and when I do I only buy the iPhone model that has just been superseded. I'm currently still using a Xs Max and am not yet feeling compelled to upgrade yet - especially since the iPhone still hasn't adopted USB-C (I'm not holding my breath) to be consistent with my iPad.

This sounds like a good strategy. I think there are substantial savings to be made by buying an older model, either used, as a refurb, or at a discount when newer models come out. I like to have the latest and greatest, but I don't really care enough about my phones for it really make a difference to me. A 3-5 year upgrade cycle sounds reasonable because there are big improvements over that time.

I find it harder to resist the allure of shiny new tech on computers, and just dropped a hunk of change on the new MBP, but I was getting frustrated with my old machine and didn't want to wait another 18-24 months for the next generation that would lower the price. The person who bought my old machine got a better deal though - about 40% of the new price for a 2 year old high-end machine in as-new condition. They probably needed the Intel CPU to heat their room though...