A former smartphone market leader believes the mobile phone industry is nearing its end. By 2030, virtual reality headsets and augmented reality glasses should disrupt consumer habits.
nokia, a former flagship brand in the mobile phone industry, expects the smartphone market to disappear in the near future. Asked by our colleagues from The Spokesman, Nishant Batra, director of strategy and technology at Nokia, believes that the rise of the metaverse will be accompanied by the death of the mobile phone.
“We believe this device will be surpassed by an experiment in the metaverse in the second half of the decade”explains Nishant Batra.
Read also : How the French government is preparing for the rise of the metaverse
Will AR glasses and VR headsets replace smartphones?
Instead of the ubiquitous smartphone, users will be equipped withdevices for virtual and augmented reality. In other words, connected AR (Augmented Reality) glasses and VR (Virtual Reality) headsets should gradually replace the smartphone. It is in any case the opinion of Nokia.
“Wide adoption of the technology by businesses and consumers will be essential for it to really take off, and it will also depend on the availability of affordable and ergonomic wirelessly connected virtual reality and augmented reality devices. “, argues Nishant Batra.
One of the obstacles to the democratization of the metaverse lies in the design of easy-to-use devices at a contained price. For Nokia, the digital worlds will remain reserved for a handful of Internet users as long as the price of headsets remains high. In a post on the Nokia site, the director of technology also points out that consumers are very sensitive to issues such as price and ease of use,
Many tech giants are already preparing for this massive change in habits. The Meta group, which bets everything on the metaverse, also plans to launch its first glasses for augmented reality around 2026. In anticipation of the democratization of the metaverse, the company has also launched several VR headsets under the leadership of its CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Meta markets for example the Quest 2 or the Quest Proa more upscale helmet.
The smartphone giants are turning to the metaverse
Same story on the side of Apple, the essential world number 2 smartphone. The Cupertino giant should present its first mixed reality headsetcombining augmented and virtual reality, during January 2023. At the same time, Apple is working on a pair of AR glasses, closer to a classic pair of glasses, to attract the general public. For now, this project is referred to as Apple Glass.
Other smartphone manufacturers are now negotiating the shift to mixed reality. This is also the case of Xiaomi, the current world number 3 on the market. The Chinese brand has unveiled Mijia Glass Camera, AR glasses intended exclusively for China, last summer. Let us also quote the Air Glass of the Chinese frim Oppoa subsidiary of the BBK Electronics group.
For the record, Ming-Chi Kuo, a famous analyst specializing in the mobile phone industry, agrees with Nokia and is preparing for the death of the smartphone. The financial expert also estimates that the iPhone will bow out by 2030.
” Apple’s goal is to replace the iPhone with augmented reality in ten years, which represents the demand for augmented reality headsets will exceed at least one billion pieces in ten years,” says Ming-Chi Kuo in a financial report published in 2021.
In anticipation of when mixed reality will supplant phones, Apple is actively working on its fully autonomous AR glasses. Future Apple Glass should indeed work without being connected to an iPhone. For Nokia, VR/AR accessories will become more democratic only when they free themselves from the smartphone. As such, it should be noted that the latest Meta helmets are completely autonomous. So, are you ready for the disappearance of the mobile phone?
Spokesman