Originally posted by Rondec Smart phones aren't in decline, although sales of new models might be. It's an entirely different thing. People are just making their phones last longer and not seeing a reason to upgrade as often.
Exactly. When new tech is introduced it rapidly improves for a few years (think cars c1900, PCs c1985) but then the improvements level out, or are no longer needed (my 6 year old PC does all I need).
At that point the makers start introducing sales gimmicks to try to make people dissatisfied with what they already have, even their needs are already met. There even comes a point when the makers, to keep their profits up with declining sales, start
reducing the features to save costs while maintaining the price (Apple do this - making gadgets thinner is a good excuse for removing features). However, enough people are circumspect enough at that stage to realise that they might as well keep their existing gadget until it fails. Hence the year-on-year sales fall.