What is a flagship phone?
A flagship phone is a signature phone (aka the best phone) by any smartphone manufacturer. These phones are usually scarce on compromises and aim to give their end-users the best possible experience with their device.
Well, here’s the catch — flagship phones have been around since the very dawn of the smartphone industry. All major manufacturers have had a premium product with future-proofed specs meant to astound their customers. Apple’s iPhone and Samsung's S series are just a few examples of these. However, markets today are different and as it turns out, the bestselling smartphones in the year 2019 weren’t flagships. In fact, the bestselling smartphones are also not the most expensive smartphones from any company. Rather, they are the mid-range phones offered by brands like Samsung, Xiaomi, and OnePlus. Why you might ask. Well, here it is…
While the Android market in the early 2000s was occupied by Samsung, today the market is flooded with companies from the US (Google), South Korea (Samsung), and China (OnePlus & Realme). What these companies have brought to the table is the challenge to produce the best phones at the lowest price possible. Based on specifications alone, mid-range products from companies like Xiaomi priced at Rs. 25,000 are comparable and sometimes even better than flagships of most companies. They work on the latest chipset; have multiple camera setups and they have all the latest functions from major manufacturers but at half the price.
These Chinese manufacturers have forced companies like Samsung and Apple to enter the mass-market with their products such as the Samsung A series and the Apple iPhone SE. Although these companies do not advertise the mid-range series as much as their other, more premium phone lineups, the specs are meant to make these phones a steal at the price they are offered.
With these mid-range phones catching up with premium offerings from the very same companies, some might wonder if flagships would exist 5 years down the line. From what we can say today, they will. The reason being that is that while mid-range phones do offer amazing specs for day-to-day use, these specs are first launched on the premium flagships before they get into these mass-produced phones. All major smartphone players spend millions of dollars on research and development (R&D) for modern technologies which are meant for flagship phones. If these companies shift their focus to making cheaper devices, innovative products will take a longer time to come to market and the smartphone market would reach a point where companies would not be able to bring innovative ideas to the table without charging a higher price.
We wouldn’t want that now , would we …