Is Smartphone Innovation Slowing?

With smartphone penetration in the U.S. market now well above 60%, it’s clear that smartphones have “arrived.”

But now that smartphones have thoroughly wowed us with their potential, have the makers of today’s leading smartphones stopped innovating like they used to?

It’s no secret that Apple has faced a barrage of criticisms stemming from the company’s perceived sluggish penchant for innovation. But such critical barbs are now prevalent across the hardware landscape.

While the Galaxy S5 is an evolutionary product, there is not enough in there to make people upgrade from the 4, says a new report from Frost & Sullivan. Why? It doesn’t push the envelope in any real way.

“We are in a sort of stasis now when it comes to smartphone innovation,” the report summary reads. “We are going to see sustaining improvements as the market reaches maturity. That is not to say that smartphone innovation is finished, but much of the innovation is going to come from the introduction of sensors into the phone, and the improvements in software, and how the phone will interact with the range of wearable devices.”

The innovation, it seems, will move away from hardware towards the kinds of services and platforms that are enabled on the phones.

According to Frost & Sullivan’s projections, services such as ordering taxis, mobile payments, and location-based services will add value on top of the smartphone platform and represent the areas in which we’re likely to see the most innovation in years ahead.

Is Smartphone Innovation Slowing?