Eli5 why dont phone companies make smart phones harder to break?
In: Economics
Phones that are harder to break would be slightly more expensive and people would continue to use them for much longer.
Instead of buying anew phone every two years, people would buy an new one every five or seven years or even longer. There would be much less profit in that.
It is much more profitable to produce relatively cheap fragile phone.
The majority of “broken” phones just have a cracked screen.
They crack easily because they are made out of harder materials.
In the past they made them out of softer materials, but over the course of normal use these screens would become scratched, and people didn’t like this.
So now they make them out of hard, non scratchable materials, so they don’t scratch, but break if you get really unlucky and drop them in the wrong way.
This is because harder materials fracture instead of bending.
As for the rest of the phone if they made it tougher, it would be heavier, bulkier, and more expensive.
Someone who wants a lighter, slimmer and cheaper phone would not want to buy it.
The person who wants a tougher phone can just buy a tougher case.
Last 3 phones I have bought where rugged phones.
Oukitel k10000.
Oukitel k10000max
Oukitel WP2 .
They where fair rugged in fairness apart from the charging port.
Looks sell. I personally rather the look of rugged phones but majority of people don’t.
I have the Doogee S90 being delivered in the morning and I’m like a child on Christmas day waiting for it to arrive. It’s not a pretty phone but it should hopefully do what I want.
Many people just like to have what other people want for bragging rights and others just like to have the newest phones to keep up with the times is all.
Personally I just want a phone that can take a few slaps or at least will be safe in my pocket when I ride my motorcycle and I don’t have to worry about it breaking and spending hundreds on a screen replacement.
A big part of it is that people keep buying new phones. The primary motivation for people buying phones is mostly based on processing power, screen resolution, connection speed, etc. Basically because their phone was getting old. So current phones are usually just made to be durable enough that for the most part you’re going to be buying a new phone before your old one breaks. Or take the phone breaking as the signal to buy a new one and not be too upset because your phone was getting old anyway.
Planned obsolescence. They could make heartier phones, but then people would be buying them less frequently.
Over the years of cell phones, there’s actually been quite a variety of extremely hardened phones or external cases that are extremely protective. However… these are generally really bulk, unpleasant to use, and consumers just really didn’t like them unless they absolutely had to have it for some purpose where their phone takes a beating.
Smartphones are actually quite durable, but to make them even more durable, you have to get rid of some of the things that make them convenient, such as a big easy to use screen, thin pocket-size devices, and so on. Basically, you can have an exceptionally durable phone… if you’re willing to make some serious sacrifices. In a modern context, if you want a super-durable phone, there are third-party cases that fill that need for $20 rather than redesigning a whole phone that will only appeal to a tiny segment.
Money. It’s that simple, they want something small and simplistic because looks sell. But this also means they aren’t durable, especially iPhones, the best thing about most smartphones is the software in it. Companies like Apple don’t care that they break because it means that people spend more money either paying to get it fixed or buying a new one.
They’re constantly compromising between the different things customers want. If you make a phone too tough, it gets bulky and heavy, and then most people don’t buy it.
Instead, they say “if you need it tougher, you can always add a tough case.”
1. Looks way better – and looks sell.
2. People don’t break their phones often.
Assuming the above are both true why would they make a worse looking phone for everyone to cater for the few that break them?
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