Smartphones keep moving forward. Google’s Pixels, Apple’s iPhones, Samsung’s Galaxys and more are in a continual race to deliver bigger, better and faster smartphones with unique features. Yet the commoditised smartphone market leaves little room to innovate in unique ways. The difference in the future will be more about fashion rather than features.

There was a time when no smartphone had a camera. Nokia took care of that, with the Nokia 7650 introducing optics to the mainstream with arguably the first cameraphone. Rivals quickly followed with their own cameraphones, before cameras became a commodity.

There was a time when no smartphone had GPS. With the introduction of Assisted GPS support by Qualcomm, the mainstream saw a sample of geo-focused smartphones; everyone else followed, and location became a commodity.

There was a time when smartphones lacked the storage to fully support music and multimedia. Again, a single handset opened the way, the market followed, and you have yet another commodity.

Those early smartphones had a blank canvas to iterate on. That canvas is Jackson Pollocked now, and it is becoming harder to find a genuinely new feature or specification to sell a smartphone to the consumer. That doesn’t stop R&D departments working to find marginal gains and a slight edge that marketing can leverage.

Just as in the world of fashion, the trick is to create not technology, but a trend.

It’s easy to spot today’s trends. Everywhere you look, the watchword is thin. Smartphones are being marketed as the thinnest and the lightest. The svete smartphone is in.

The launch of the Galaxy S25 Edge this week brings thin to the front of the queue. Apple’s presumptively-named iPhone 17 Air will confirm that the thin market is the one to be in. And of course, you have the subtle power of unfolded foldable smartphones showing just what is possible in the thinner form factor.

Stand by for a battle of tenths of a millimetre—all of which will ignore the camera hump.

Trends are not always successful. While wireless charging speeds were a temporary area of interest, using the Qi standards helped smartphones reach a uniform plateau. The trend helped market smartphones to the media, but perhaps less so to the general public, who just wanted wireless charging to work.

The push towards digital detox—the idea of locking down a smartphone so interruptions are reduced—has been hyped by some manufacturers, and many do use the tools. Still, they did not break out to become must-have features that consumers were looking for.

Thanks to the commoditisation of smartphones, we’re going to see more fashion-focused trends. The small spec advantages gained by manufacturers are quickly adopted by others, which is not a surprise given the homogenisation of supply chains in Shenzen and beyond. Exclusivity periods can be negotiated, but the vast majority of new technology will be available “off the shelf” a matter of months after a product launch.

Phones today have the camera, the GPS, and the media capability that were once unique selling points. Today's expensive thin phone may become the mid-range average in twelve months. When that happens, the fashion will move on to something else, while the global nature of the specs will offer an almost standardised smartphone base.

The features are set. Fashion is the driver.

Now read how the Pixel 10 Pro helps set the fashion and features of the smartphone market...