Starting from 2021, there has been a very serious shortage of chips in the cell phone market due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. Accordingly, the chips used in smartphones are getting expensive, while at the same time, the supply of smartphones were seriously affected. Thus, many smartphones are not affordable even now, and budget smartphones, or cheap smartphones, are getting popular in the market. In this article, we will discuss what budget smartphones have removed, and the impact on the market.
The Removal of Insignificant Functions
Many smartphone suppliers are still fighting to keep the intact functions, such as HONOR 70, to improve customer satisfaction and get more competitive. However, under the low prices competition in the market, some smartphone suppliers have silently removed many functions. Firstly, many smartphones have removed the 3.5 mm independent headphone jack. Some of us are used to charging our smartphones and listening to music at the same time. However, the removal of this headphone jack eliminates this option. Secondly, the external SD slot disappeared years ago. In the past, we could spend a little to buy an external SD card when our smartphones run out of memory, through which the memory space and the life of the smartphones would be significantly improved. However, in recent years, cell phone manufacturers have eliminated the SD card slot as they claimed ‘not enough space’ inside the smartphone. Of course, these are excuses,as these manufacturers are trying to reduce the costs and pushing users to replace their smartphones directly instead of adding an SD card. More surprisingly, some smartphone suppliers have even stopped to provide chargers. As an important part of the accessories, a charger is inevitable, and now, users have to pay extra just for a normal requirement.
The Market Impact of Budget Smartphones
The emergence of budget smartphones reflect the fact that smartphone manufacturers are trying to survive a price war. As a consequence, most budget smartphones are similar in appearance and functions. Moreover, in order to win more orders, false propagandas are now frequently used in the market. For example, there used to be a Sharp screen for many smartphones. But now, it is impossible to see smartphones with high quality screens, and instead, they use a variety of screen. In addition, some smartphone manufacturers only apply good accessories in the first few batches of products, and replace them with cheaper materials during mass production. To be more specific, studies have made a list of items that are replaced or removed in budget smartphones. Firstly, the memory is divided into different levels, and budget smartphones are usually with extremely low memory. Secondly, the material of the screen. There are many types of glass that can be applied to a smartphone screen, LED, LCD, and others. For sure, budget smartphones will only use the cheapest material, and the quality will be disappointing. Thirdly, the fast charging function. To charge your smartphone in a short time, both the smartphone battery and the charger must be very powerful, and these are impossible to find in a budget smartphone. Lastly, the material of the smartphone body. There are thousands of different materials that can be used, including glass, plastic, ceramic, and metal, and these materials are divided into different brands. Thus, you can imagine what a budget smartphone will contain according to the cost of it.
Conclusion
In conclusion, budget smartphones are popular of their super low costs, and they are competitive in the market. To save these costs, many of the smartphone functions are removed, and manufacturers must use cheap materials to make these smartphones. Therefore, if you are looking for a budget phone, think about it carefully and see if you can accept your smartphone to be in such a quality.