If you think about the smartphone and how far it’s come over the years, there has been plenty of innovation that most of us probably wouldn’t have even dreamed of having in our devices today. With cloud based computing, LTE data speeds, mobile games closing the gap with consoles and the imminent mainstream arrival of 4k video recording in many devices, the question of “where do we go from here?” with the innovation of the smartphone is one that many people are asking. CEO of Qualcomm Steve Mollenkopf isn’t one of those people though. He believes that the best days of the smartphone are still ahead of us, and that innovation for smartphone devices is still strong.
He was heard in an interview today saying that Qualcomm is in the process of developing technologies that will continue to “drive continued demand for smartphones.” It all depends on how you look at it. The smartphone market is becoming more and more saturated on a daily basis, but there are plenty of emerging markets around the world that have few people using smartphones, and some that have yet to even get connected online in the mobile space. “The world is a big place” Mollenkopf said, which he followed up with a statement that in spite of the number of smartphones that are already floating around the planet, more smartphones are coming. Qualcomm is focused on improving and enhancing various features and technologies of smartphones today that will assist them in driving the demand for smartphones, including cameras, sensors, wireless connectivity, and audio.
Another statement by Mollenkopf “We’re working on technologies that emulate how the brain processes information. Ultimately, I think you get to the point where the phone becomes an extension of all of your senses,” does a good job at displaying Qualcomms vision for where they want to take things. If you think about what’s possible from smartphones today, it’s true that the most advanced and high-end devices can do some amazing things, but there is plenty of room for growth not only in smartphone capabilities, but for regions around the world that have yet to get their hands on technologies that some of the more developed nations already use in their mobile phones.