Tech not the right battleground for smartphones says manufacturer

Technology is not the right battleground for smartphone development and manufacturers should be focusing more on their overall service packages, British-based handset maker Kazam has suggested.

Claiming that the constant push for new technology tweaks is failing to benefitting consumers, Kazam has suggested that the industry’s big players should be battling over the whole user experience and post-purchase service packages, not just the latest features and gimmicks that can be squeezed into phones.

“When you look at the market, the reason there is so much crowding is because all smartphone makers are trying to play the same game and are using tech as the differentiator,” James Atkins, Kazam’s Chief Marketing Officer said in an exclusive interview with TrustedReviews.

Although conceding that these advances in technology grab the headlines and consumers’ attentions, Atkins has warned that most manufacturers are not doing enough to provide a complete user package.

“When brands define themselves through technology, as technology becomes more ubiquitous they find it harder and harder to differentiate and so create gimmicky tech,” the smartphone CMO told us.

He added: “I’m not saying this is bad, but it is gimmicky. People use it once and go ‘that was fun but I’m never going to use that’. There is also a growing swell of people that are getting tired of this one-upmanship of gimmicks and paying for it in the price of their phones somewhere.”

Although Atkins failed to detail any specific gimmicky additions by name, we have experienced a number of instances of this ourselves. From the Samsung’s Galaxy S4’s eye-tracking Smart Pause and Smart Scroll functions to the rear-mounted controls of the LG G2, the smartphone scene is becoming swamped by gimmicky additions.

“There is a time and a place for these technologies but not in your smartphone is not it,” Atkins told us. “People just want a phone that does what they need it to do at a price they are willing to pay and with a service proposition that is going to look after them.”

Having last week unveiled its first range of smartphones, a collection of affordable but technically unspectacular handsets, Kazam has confirmed that all of its phones will come bundled with free cracked screen protection and access to Kazam Rescue helplines as standard.

Next, take a look at all the latest Samsung Galaxy S5 news and rumours