The history of tech is in many ways one of decreasing physical size combined with increasing compute power, system integration, connectivity, and affordability. 

Special Feature

Mobility: Tech and trends in 2023

Smartphone innovation never stops. Discover the biggest trends in mobile devices in 2023 and what it all means for you.

Another way of putting it: 50 years ago, computers were room-sized, sparsely interconnected via the nascent internet, cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and were available only to the few; now they are powerful, highly connected handheld devices that cost hundreds of dollars, and more than six billion people have them.  

But nothing stands still in the tech world: for example, the handheld paradigm might, in time, give way to wearable and even implantable devices, ushering in -- along with appropriate connectivity -- truly ambient computing. For now, though, let's look at some near-term trends in the mobile space. 

Smartphone trends

First, the bad news, at least in the short term. The global smartphone market is currently experiencing a post-pandemic dip, with analyst firm Canalys reporting a 12% drop in shipments in 2022 to 1.19 billion units (the lowest since 2014), and an 18% drop to 296.9 million units in the fourth quarter. The top five vendors all saw significant year-on-year shipment declines in Q4 2022: Apple