Category: Technology

How mercilessly tough the competition is in the business with smartphones is something that a number of companies have already experienced and often enough paid with losses in the billions. It is enough to make a few wrong decisions, to recognize a trend too late – and the spiral turns downwards. Nokia didn’t believe in touch screens for a long time, but then Apple came along. Microsoft thought that with its market power a later entry with its own system would also be possible, but had not expected the great importance that apps have for smartphone owners. Now another big one has been caught: the conglomerate LG from South Korea has decided to give up the smartphone business, the search for a buyer for it had previously been unsuccessful.

That had been evident for years. From the third largest manufacturer in the world, LG had shrunk to a niche supplier whose market share was somewhere among the “other manufacturers”. The losses increased. But here, too, the market only punished management errors – albeit with the cruelty customary in the industry.

LG’s mistake was the unclear strategy. While devices such as the Nexus 4 developed for and with Google were characterized by a good price-performance ratio, the company later tried to attract buyers with extravagant ideas. There was the curved cell phone that looked good in the back pocket, but rocked around on the table. There was the modular G5, which, in the absence of other great innovations, became a sensation at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, ​​the most important meeting in the industry. The lower part of the cell phone could be removed and supplemented with various modules – only the few extensions shown remained, third-party manufacturers held back elegantly. In addition, the whole thing was not particularly convincing mechanically.

Customers’ needs were misjudged

Last attempt in this line of crazy engineering inventions: The LG Wing. On the last device that LG presented, the screen could be rotated 90 degrees, and a second appeared behind it, so that users can, for example, watch a movie or play a game at the same time and chat. It is astonishing that no one realized that the target group for such a niche phone might not be that big.

This is also the commonality between the big failed smartphone projects: From a purely technical point of view, the crazy LG cell phones or Microsoft’s Lumia devices were quite competitive. But the majority of the customers are not engineers. Technologies that are thrown onto the market because they can do it are generally unsuccessful. Rather, it is about finding out what users would do with devices whose capabilities they are not yet aware of.

The fine art of market research is then to guess which product, which at least does not yet exist, people would buy – preferably a million times over. Problems arise especially when other factors are necessary for success. Just like with 3-D television. Not only was the technology not that simple – it was well known that it would not work without glasses. It also needed content.

But they didn’t come in as large numbers as expected. Why also? Who sits down in front of the telly with stupid glasses for a few effects? That was ultimately the problem with Microsoft phones. In view of the small market share of Microsoft devices, the app programmers didn’t feel like adapting their apps to a third system other than iOS and Android. Without the app, however, the devices were unattractive.

Huawei has impressively demonstrated that it is possible to roll up the field from behind, even in a highly competitive market. With well-equipped devices at reasonable prices – and a lot of marketing – the Chinese company managed to grow into one of the largest providers as a late entry, only the US-Chinese trade conflict was not planned.

The fact that LG is now giving up the end customer business with smartphones is not the end of the company’s technology. LG continues to build screens, also for Apple, and – more importantly – the company strategy is emphatically focusing on networking in the so-called Internet of Things. How important it is for customers that the washing machine is connected to the microwave in the smart home remains to be seen.

According to the Statista survey, 90% of French people do not see the point of approaching their phone to the payment terminal to pay a bill. On the side of our European neighbors, in Poland and Sweden for example, a third of consumers use this system. And France is very far from China, where payment by telephone has become commonplace, since it represents more than 80% of everyday purchases.

In France, more and more banks, such as BNP or the Postal Bank, have yet developed their own telephone payment application, or they use already existing applications from Apple or GooglePay. But there are still technical problems of compatibility between telephone operators and banking establishments. In addition, customers must configure their smartphone beforehand. So many elements that explain this French delay.

Today, the French pay more than 60% of their everyday consumer spending with the card, according to the bank card group. This is twice as many as 20 years ago. With the pandemic, contactless payment, that is to say just putting your credit card on the terminal without entering the code, has become a barrier measure and has grown considerably. And the trend has accelerated even further since the government last May raised the transaction limit from 30 to 50 euros. And more than 80% of traders are equipped with devices suitable for contactless, including small traders, bakeries, tobacco bars, and even vendors in markets. The result: today, half of card payments are made without contact.

Checks now only represent 6% of our transactions. But it remains essential for certain payments, such as the deposit for a real estate rental. As for cash, they are far more successful with the crisis, since cash is a safe haven. According to a European Central Bank survey, a third of those polled say they keep cash, coins and notes at home. Right now in three-quarters of the cases, it’s less than 500 euros. But it can go up to 10,000 euros.

What comes after voice control? Is it up to Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk: brain-computer interfaces. For the time being, there are only bulky bracelets for the masses. The few real brain computers that exist need different ones.

The tech industry has a mighty opponent called friction. Apps and cell phones should work with as little as possible friction – so quickly and easily – can be operated. From this perspective, smartphones are primitive: pull them out of your pocket, enter your pin, swipe, open apps – far too much friction. That’s why tech CEOs Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg are interested in reading minds. Because it would be as smooth as the direct control of devices from the brain.

Too complicated, insecure, immature: If you ask scientists about the anti-corona app “Luca” or the digital vaccination certificate via blockchain, they – to put it politely – are critically surprised.

In the coming days, the Corona warning app will have an additional function. With the help of a QR code, it should be possible to log in and out of visits to bars, events or meetings in the future. The question will be whether that will calm the debate about digital disease control.

The confinements and teleworking linked to the Covid-19 epidemic have caused it to change dimension. The American Zoom, a specialist in videoconferencing, has experienced unprecedented growth. In one year, its turnover has increased by 327%. Eco guest of franceinfo on Monday April 5, Charlotte Nizieux, spokesperson for Zoom France, explains that “growth continues and will continue, with the hybridization of work “.

The representative of the American group cites a recent BCG survey according to which 82% of French companies believe that after the pandemic, they will continue to use videoconferencing solutions: “This will allow them to welcome talents, regardless of their geographic location “.

Zoom has been around since 2011 but the pandemic has boosted its growth. In April 2020, in full confinement, explains Charlotte Nizieux, the company “grew from 10 million to 300 million daily users “.

The technological giants have beefed up their own videoconferencing solutions, so as not to be left behind. How can Zoom tell the difference? With technical and ergonomic arguments, according to its spokesperson: “By its ease of use “, and “by the very low use of bandwidth “.

Some companies refuse to use the application because they believe it is not secure enough. A few months ago, the government itself advised against “strongly its use “. Users have also reported strangers intruding into their conversation.

“We are proactive on security issues”, replies Charlotte Nizieux: “We implemented end-to-end encryption of all conversations for paid and free users “. The manager also explains that “Zoom does not collect any data “, and “jso far, it has not been the subject of any computer attack “.

Anyone who has always wanted to text Mark Zuckerberg can do so now. In the data set of over 500 million Facebook users that appeared on the Internet, the entry “User number 4” can be found: “Mark Zuckerberg: male: Palo Alto, California.” In addition, the phone number and relationship status of the Facebook boss. The list is so extensive that even the first members of the network, including owners and early employees, can find their data openly on the network. Yes, that’s what it feels like, Mister Zuckerberg!

The data set is the largest telephone directory in the world – compiled, including personal details, against the will of those registered. Once again it is clear that growth is more important to Facebook than protecting its members. This is how the group keeps the unpleasant sides of the Internet running. Cyber ​​criminals, trolls, and other nagging people enjoy fresh personal information that they can use for identity theft, fraud, and junk mail.

Yes, Facebook closed the leak in 2019. But the case is a reminder that the network does not forget, especially not spammers and criminals. You now have one more convenient directory to use to harass people. You can thank the company for delivering this information free of charge.