New Tech

I know it`s totally the in thing to update your electronic devices every year or so. At least, it used to be. However, recent surveys have revealed that the average smartphone user upgrades their device after about 2 years or more. Actually, the trend has been that people are waiting longer and longer to upgrade their smartphones. Some websites even say that people are waiting more than three years before upgrading. Some commentators have even speculated that the 2-year upgrade cycle is well and truly dead. However, regardless of the trend, I am the sort of person that waits a very long time before I update any of my devices, whether it be my smartphone, my laptop, or anything else.

There are a lot of reasons for this general trend among typical smartphone users that are relevant to my own reasons. First of all, smartphones have increased in quality quite a bit since they first hit the market in 1994. Nowadays, many users are willing to say that their phone is “good enough” for a lot longer, since it does most of the things that they desire it to do. The most commonly cited reasons for upgrading a smartphone weren`t “to have the newest thing”, but rather to “replace my phone because of poor battery life” or “because my phone`s charging port is no longer functioning properly”. Therefore, people are only paying for a new phone when their current phone no longer works well.

When consumers do decide to upgrade, they are paying more than they ever did before. Many smartphones cost $1,000 or more, which most people just can`t afford, at least not without a payment plan. Smartphones are now requiring a loan of 24 or even 30 months to pay off. The three top smartphone manufacturers - Apple, Samsung, and Huawei - have increased prices by 52% on average over the last 3 years. This has made people less likely to fork out the money needed to actually get an upgrade to their current phone.

In my case, no factor has yet convinced me to upgrade my smartphone. Actually, my current phone has the most common issues that lead people to buy a new phone: my charging port isn`t working at all and my phone can no longer hold a charge. It typically completely drains from regular use after about an hour or two at most. If I am doing an intensive activity, like playing a game with good graphics or watching YouTube videos, it might not even last an hour. I have had to purchase a wireless charger for it just so it can charge normally, not once, but twice. My phone is quite old, I should admit. I bought it over 5 years ago, and even then it wasn`t the newest model available. However, I was a late comer to the smartphone party and I don`t regret that decision. It`s true that smartphones are very useful, but they are also quite addictive. Now that I have one, I feel like I can`t live without it and that is not a good feeling at all.

I`ll replace my smartphone, but not until I absolutely must.

Michael

Vocabulary

in thing (expression ) – the new, popular trend currently
speculate (verb) – to guess
hit the market (idiom) – to first become available to buy
fork out (phrasal verb) [casual] – to pay (usually a lot of money)