# Three big reasons why Americans aren’t upgrading their phones



## Mark Holtz (Mar 23, 2002)

From The Verge:

*Three big reasons why Americans aren't upgrading their phones*


> Last month, Verizon and AT&T made official something you've probably been aware of for a while: American smartphone owners are upgrading a lot less than they used to. In fact, they're hitting record lows at the two biggest US carriers, with people apparently more content than ever to keep hold of their existing device. This is a global trend, as the smartphone market is reaching maturity and saturation in many developed nations, and yet it's most pronounced in the United States for a few reasons particular to the country.


FULL ARTICLE HERE


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## Mark Holtz (Mar 23, 2002)

Hmmmm..... and here I thought mobile phone sales were slowing because customers are finding that their present mobile phones are working quite fine, and they don't need to upgrade every two years. I know that the last phone I purchased was a Google Pixel 3, and that was an upgrade from my Galaxy S8. Why the upgrade? My mother's S5 was having issues, so I gave her my S8 and got a new phone. Otherwise, I would not have upgraded.


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## KyL416 (Nov 11, 2005)

Mobile technology has pretty much matured to the point where it performs fast enough for everyday use. (Making calls, facetime/skype, taking pictures, browsing internet, social media, streaming on the go, etc) For that kind of use the current LTE networks are fast enough, so even if you live in a city where "5G" is being deployed, that won't be enough of a reason for the average user to upgrade to a new model. Now if you're someone who plays CPU and GPU intensive mobile games, you might have a reason to upgrade more often.

Unless other manufacturers start pulling Apple's throttling stunts and other crap (i.e. putting in a killswitch so you have no choice but to pay Apple if you want the battery replaced), most people have no reason to upgrade until their phone dies or forced obsoletion hits where their phone no longer gets OS updates, and their favorite app is no longer supported on their model. Although thanks to alternative OS's like LineageOS older phones can still get updated to newer versions of Android long after their manufacturer or carrier decided to stop supporting it.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

Mark Holtz said:


> Hmmmm..... and here I thought mobile phone sales were slowing because customers are finding that their present mobile phones are working quite fine, and they don't need to upgrade every two years. I know that the last phone I purchased was a Google Pixel 3, and that was an upgrade from my Galaxy S8. Why the upgrade? My mother's S5 was having issues, so I gave her my S8 and got a new phone. Otherwise, I would not have upgraded.


I just traded a Samsung Note 4 for a Galaxy S10+. The Note 4 was almost 5 years old and had been wonky for some time. Holding on to the Note 4 was an act of stupidity on my part, that thing was damn near dead.

Rich


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## TheRatPatrol (Oct 1, 2003)

I’m still using a five year old iPhone 6 from 2014. If it ain’t broke......


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## ericknolls (Aug 18, 2013)

People have more important things to worry about and pay then getting the latest and greatest jacked up phone. They cost too much as is...Priorities over luxuries!


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## cpalmer2k (May 24, 2010)

I honestly think the carriers ending the subsidies is one of the biggest reasons for the change. Back when you would pay a one time fee of $250 and get a new phone as long as you stayed with your carrier for two years it was attractive. But now the phones have gotten so expensive that it is really hard to justify paying an extra $30 (or more) per month just to have a new phone on their payment plan scheme. 

I'm still using my iPhone 6S Plus I purchased many years ago (just had the battery replaced by a local repair shop last month and it works better than ever!). I'm holding out on any upgrades now because of the move to 5G. So long as my phone keeps working I'll hold onto it another year or two until that technology makes it to the iPhone and then upgrade.


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## Mark Holtz (Mar 23, 2002)

Lets see here.... what apps do I use on a regular basis on my phone:

Google Maps
Google Calendar
GMail
Two Factor Authenication apps
Audible (for Audiobooks)
Two factor authentication apps
A work communications tool
Weather Underground
Google Pay
Banking app with my credit union
Facebook and Twitter
Most of the phones that have come out in the past few years are more than capable of handling these apps.


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## NYDutch (Dec 28, 2013)

The remanufactured LG Stylo 3 I bought from Tracfone for $65 a couple of years ago does everything I need it to do, including finding the best aiming locations for my portable dish. It uses Verizon's towers and my average cost is about $16/month. Combined with my unlimited data AT&T and Verizon hotspots, I can make unlimited VOIP calls using no phone minutes. The phone also has its own hotspot capability, but at $10 per additional GB I don't use it for anything but the simplest Internet chores. I'm in no hurry to upgrade to a $1,000 phone...


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## MysteryMan (May 17, 2010)

My microwave oven gets more usage than my cell phone. No need for me to upgrade frequently.


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## reubenray (Jun 27, 2002)

The only reason I upgraded my 4 year old phone recently was due to a toilet mishape.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

TheRatPatrol said:


> I'm still using a five year old iPhone 6 from 2014. If it ain't broke......


My Note 4 was unusable. I had no choice.

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

reubenray said:


> The only reason I upgraded my 4 year old phone recently was due to a toilet mishape.


Must be an interesting story here...

Rich


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

Camera, screen size and quality. The only big reasons to upgrade if yours is only a year or so old anymore.


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## Mark Holtz (Mar 23, 2002)

I place the operational life of a mobile smartphone at around three years. Although, I had financially-challenged friend who was very grateful I sent him my LG G3 about a year or so ago. That phone was just sitting on my shelf as a standby phone in case something happened with my mother's or my smartphone, and I needed to perform a quick swap out. 

Of course, if you have a phone that doesn't receive regular security updates anymore, it may be a good excuse to upgrade. My Pixel 3 phone should continue to receive system updates until October, 2021.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

inkahauts said:


> Camera, screen size and quality. The only big reasons to upgrade if yours is only a year or so old anymore.


Yup, way too much money to upgrade every year. But holding on to my phone for five years wasn't smart. By the time I got rid of it I was restarting it several times a day.

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

Mark Holtz said:


> I place the operational life of a mobile smartphone at around three years. Although, I had financially-challenged friend who was very grateful I sent him my LG G3 about a year or so ago. That phone was just sitting on my shelf as a standby phone in case something happened with my mother's or my smartphone, and I needed to perform a quick swap out.
> 
> Of course, if you have a phone that doesn't receive regular security updates anymore, it may be a good excuse to upgrade. My Pixel 3 phone should continue to receive system updates until October, 2021.


My wife bought an iPhone a few months before I bought the Note 4. Her iPhone was working a lot better than my Note 4 before I got rid of it. Think that says a lot about the quality of Apple phones. Didn't stop me from buying another Galaxy, tho, better the devil you know...

Rich


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## SamC (Jan 20, 2003)

Technologies mature. If you bought a new car in 1955 and then again in 1965, the new one was better. New things had been invented that the new one would do that the old one wouldn't. But if you traded the 65 for a 75, it was just new. It wasn't better. Just new. Since phones do not really have wear parts like cars do, why would anyone but the most techno-geeky ever trade?

The business plan for the phone manufacturers, thus, have to adjust their business model. They have predicated upon a large number of people trading (or in many cases, de facto trashing) phones every year. That is ending. 

What do you actually expect your 2025 phone to do that the current one does not?


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## Mark Holtz (Mar 23, 2002)

SamC said:


> Since phones do not really have wear parts like cars do, why would anyone but the most techno-geeky ever trade?
> 
> _(text deleted)_
> 
> What do you actually expect your 2025 phone to do that the current one does not?


While phones do not have wear parts, they do have screens that can crack. Lord knows how many times I dropped or knocked my phone to the floor, and I have a "armor case" to protect my phone.

Since smart phones are essentially portable computers that are more powerful and more graphics capable than computers from years ago, they are also subject to software and firmware upgrades to patch software defects and security holes. However, there is a limited time from the device release when the manufacturer will offer updates. The company I work for even establishes a baseline of devices that it will allow on the network, including minimum Android version.

What do I expect my 2025 to do that my Pixel 3 doesn't? Improvements in the battery life, more efficient processor, increased storage capacity. Not worth upgrading my phone every year, but every three? Yes, I'll notice the difference then.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

SamC said:


> Technologies mature. If you bought a new car in 1955 and then again in 1965, the new one was better. New things had been invented that the new one would do that the old one wouldn't. But if you traded the 65 for a 75, it was just new. It wasn't better. Just new. Since phones do not really have wear parts like cars do, why would anyone but the most techno-geeky ever trade?


Trade in a 4-5 year old phone for a brand new one and tell me that. Trade in a 5 year old laptop for a new one and tell me that. I just did both and the new devices are so much better. That's not an opinion. I made a mistake by waiting so long. That's not an opinion either.

Rich


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## Mark Holtz (Mar 23, 2002)

Likely improvements to the smart phone: Higher resolution screen, fingerprint sensor, NFC (for Google pay), and possibly the loss of a replaceable battery and headphone jack. 

Likely improvements to the laptop: Faster processor, replacement of physical drive with SSD, longer battery life.


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

Rich said:


> Yup, way too much money to upgrade every year. But holding on to my phone for five years wasn't smart. By the time I got rid of it I was restarting it several times a day.
> 
> Rich


There is an argument to be made to upgrade every year if you can get the right deal. Right deal being that you basically pay the same amount over the course of say three or four years weather you had the same phone and bought it and used it for three or four years or you upgrade every year to a new phone. If the cost is the same upgrade. The key is getting the right deal with the right carrier to make that happen. And that's not easy. I do think most are set up to make that come out right if you upgrade every two years or so.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

inkahauts said:


> There is an argument to be made to upgrade every year if you can get the right deal. Right deal being that you basically pay the same amount over the course of say three or four years weather you had the same phone and bought it and used it for three or four years or you upgrade every year to a new phone. If the cost is the same upgrade. The key is getting the right deal with the right carrier to make that happen. And that's not easy. I do think most are set up to make that come out right if you upgrade every two years or so.


I dunno. I'll probably hang on to the new 10+ as long as I can. Switching phones is an ordeal I can live without. And at the prices they charge for these things I don't see how you could switch every year. But you make good points, maybe that would work.

Rich


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## lparsons21 (Mar 4, 2006)

Rich said:


> I dunno. I'll probably hang on to the new 10+ as long as I can. Switching phones is an ordeal I can live without. And at the prices they charge for these things I don't see how you could switch every year. But you make good points, maybe that would work.
> 
> Rich


I've been primarily an iPhone user for many years starting with the 5, then the 7+ and now an Xs Max. Love that Apple ecosystem! But $1100 for a phone is just not going to happen again!

Since I got the Xs Max, I also got another secondary line just in case. Got a Moto Z3 for $240. It represents about 80-90% of what the flagships are but at a hell of a lot lower price point. Very fast, camera good enough for any picture I'm going to take, nice big screen for my aging eyes and it does all I ever actually do just fine. Yes it isn't quite up to the Xs Mac or latest Galaxy, but $900-$100 vs $240? If I were to switch over to Android the two things I would miss is iMessage and the ability to make and answer calls and messages on all my other Apple gear under the same phone number, that is damned handy. But is it $700+ more handy???

Sent from my Google Chromebook Pixel (2015) using Tapatalk


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## billsharpe (Jan 25, 2007)

The newest phones are too big and too expensive. I bought an iPhone 8 last year to replace my three-year-old Android phone, which only cost $60 on Amazon at that time. I want a phone that fits in my shirt pocket.

I am still happy with my five-year-old Windows desktop and seven-year-old laptop computer.


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## scooper (Apr 22, 2002)

COunt me in on the "don't upgrade phones unless necessary" - and the last time I did , it was to get an extra large battery - the old one would still otherwise do what I wanted. I'm also cheap in that I use prepaid cell phone plans and pay for my phone up front.

My laptop - bought it when they were still loaded with Win8. Currently running Win10 with no issues.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

scooper said:


> COunt me in on the "don't upgrade phones unless necessary" - and the last time I did , it was to get an extra large battery - the old one would still otherwise do what I wanted. I'm also cheap in that I use prepaid cell phone plans and pay for my phone up front.
> 
> My laptop - bought it when they were still loaded with Win8. Currently running Win10 with no issues.


My old laptop was a Windows 7 computer. I put Windows 10 on it and I think that's what killed it. Shouldn't say "killed", it still works but it's so slow it's practically useless. But I know someone that knows a lot more than I do about computers and when I'm done with it I'm gonna ask him if he wants it. It's gorgeous laptop, a Lenovo Z710 Idea pad. 17" model. Illuminated keyboard.

Rich


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## Mark Holtz (Mar 23, 2002)

My personal laptop was purchased in August, 2012, and I'm still using it. It was supposed to be a "gaming" laptop, but the gaming part didn't quite work out. It still works fine, especially for Toastmasters presentations, but I'm not going to replace it. Work now requires that everyone in my division have a laptop for our work and to keep it close by. It's part of the "Backup Contingency Plan" (BCP) with the expectation that we should be able to work remotely in a pinch, including a VPN connection. The work laptop is under a 3 year replacement cycle. I'm am not going to drag around two laptops when I do my occasional travel.


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## Eva (Nov 8, 2013)

I still have a desktop running on 7 and a couple lappys, one running on 8.1 and the other a Mac with Boot Camp with 10 on it. As for a phone, I have an old school flip phone. I actually use the thing to talk! Isn't that amazing?


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## Mark Holtz (Mar 23, 2002)

Windows 7 is going to be end-of-life in mid-January, 2020, after which time you won't receive any security updates.


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## billsharpe (Jan 25, 2007)

Mark Holtz said:


> Windows 7 is going to be end-of-life in mid-January, 2020, after which time you won't receive any security updates.


Perhaps, but MS released a securing update for XP recently. Besides Win 7 end-of-life support is still about eight months away.


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## Mark Holtz (Mar 23, 2002)

billsharpe said:


> Perhaps, but MS released a securing update for XP recently.


Per this article, the patch is only for the WannaCry exploit that affects both Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 servers. All other patches stopped in April, 2014.... that's five years ago. Also, many software manufacturers dropped Windows XP support. Firefox dropped XP support with version 53 in March, 2017, while Chrome dropped XP support in April, 2016.



billsharpe said:


> Besides Win 7 end-of-life support is still about eight months away.


And you should be spending the time migrating to a newer system. Per the Microsoft lifecycle sheet, the last date you could have purchased a Windows 7 Professional system was end of October, 2016... almost four year ago. Wanted Windows 7 Home Edition? End of sale was October, 2014.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

Windows XP dies final death as Embedded POSReady 2009 reaches end of life
"After 17 years, support for the last Windows XP variant comes to an end. Because of changes coming to Windows Update, users have until July to apply final patches."
"Extended support for Windows Embedded POSReady 2009-the last supported version of Windows based on Windows XP-ended on April 9, 2019, marking the final end of the Windows NT 5.1 product line after 17 years, 7 months, and 16 days. Counting this edition, Windows XP is the longest-lived version of Windows ever-a record that is unlikely to be beaten."


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