TREND FORECASTING OF ANDROID

SMARTPHONES

(2008-2018)

ANKIT GUPTA
2008 HTC DREAM

• The first Android phone to hit the

UK was called the T-Mobile G1.
However, under the T-Mobile
network.
• It had keyboard that appeared
under its slide-out screen, inspired
by the BlackBerry phones that
were so popular around that time.
2009 HTC HERO

• The first Android phone that gave the iPhone

a run for its money in design was the HTC
Hero.
• Looking back it wasn’t quite as pretty as
Apple’s iPhone, but the angled “lip”, the
recognisable design and glowing trackball
made other Android of the time seem ugly.
• The HTC Hero had a trackball where we’d
now see a finger scanner.
2009 MOTOROLA DEXT

• Motorola’s first Android phones were the

Dext and the Milestone, also known as the
Droid in the US.
• At the time Motorola was known for it ultra-
popular slider Razr phones. Aiming for the
same sort of younger audience that loved
those mobiles.
• The Dext aimed at social networking, with a
Facebook/Twitter loving interface and a
keyboard.
2009 LG GW620

• LG’s first Android phone was the LG

GW620.
• Like most manufacturers, LG’s first
attempt didn’t suddenly change the
game.
• However, it did have a different
approach to Samsung and HTC’s
phones at this point, with a screen that
slid up to reveal a landscape
keyboard.
2010 HTC NEXUS ONE

• The first “official” Google phone was

released around 18 months after the first.
• It was called the Nexus One and was made
by HTC.
• It included a “sharp” 3.7in 480 x 800 pixel
AMOLED screen, a lovely aluminium frame
and Google’s new Android 2.1 software.
• It added features like being able to merge
email inboxes, Google Earth and voice
control.
2010 SAMSUNG GALAXY SI9000

• This is where Samsung’s Android phones

suddenly clicked into gear. The first of the
Galaxy S phones was immediately
impressive, not least because of its “huge”
4in Super AMOLED screen. Back in 2010
that size really did seem big.
• Samsung sorted out its build quality chops,
though, and the phone had a shiny plastic
back that didn’t look too hot next to HTC’s
models. It was a smash hit, though, selling
24 million.
2010 HTC DESIRE

• Desire was a bronze brown

smartphonewith better looks than the
Samsung. However, the Galaxy S had a
bigger screen and a slimmer frame.
• It came with an AMOLED screen,
2010 SONY XPERIA X10

• It was a Sony Ericsson. The Xperia X10

arrived just the year before Sony and
Ericsson split.
• However, at the time it didn’t quite
match up to the HTC and Samsung
rivals.
• It didn’t even have multi-touch until the
year after release.
2011 SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE

• The Note series began in 2011. Most of us

thought it was a phone just for nerds to start
with, even some at Samsung.
• However, after it racked-up 10 million sales
in a year, we all had to take the Note a bit
more seriously.
• It debuted the Samsung phone stylus, which
for years we’d lust after. And then barely
use when we actually got hold of one.
2011 LG OPTIMUS 3D

• The LG Optimus 3D didn't use its

two rear eyes for background blur
like today’s models, though. It took
actual 3D photos and could display
them on its very own 3D screen.
2012 LG NEXUS 4

• 2012 was a very strong year for LG. It was

behind the fourth Nexus phone, the Nexus 4.
• This was one of the first phones to offer an
experience comparable with some of today’s
phones.
• It had a high-res 768p display, fair quad-
core CPU and glass back.
2012 SAMSUNG GALAXY CAMERA

• The Samsung Galaxy Camera was one of

its more interesting experimental devices. It
wasn’t really designed to be used as a
phone, but did take a SIM card.
• This was an Android phone attached to a
compact camera with a giant 21x digital
zoom.
• It didn’t actually have as large a sensor as
a compact system camera so image quality
was just OK.
2013 HTC ONE

• In 2013 with the HTC One, later

known as the One M7. It racked up
more adulation and awards than any
HTC phone since the first Desire.
• The HTC One was also the first phone
to use the UltraPixel camera.
• It only had four megapixels, but was
based on the same large sensor pixel
concept the best phone cameras still
use.
2013 SONY XPERIA Z

• The Sony Xperia flagship series as we know it

began in 2013 with the Xperia Z, refining
what Sony made the year before with the
Xperia S, and coining the term “OmniBalance”.
• Sony would trot this marketing term out for
years, and it was all about design symmetry.
• This was also when Sony started to push water
resistance, with IP57 certification.
2013 LG G2

• The LG G2 was a phone that made LG

a serious alternative to Samsung Galaxy
and iPhone mobiles for the average
buyer.
• Cheaper than its direct rivals and with
top core specs like a 5.2in 1080p
screen, this phone wouldn’t look too bad
even today.
2014 ONEPLUS ONE

• The OnePlus experiment began in 2014 as a secret

experimental offshoot of Oppo, one of the top
Chinese phone-makers.
• The cheeky online teasers were matched with the best-
value hardware of the year.
• At its launch in June 2014, there was so much demand
for the OnePlus One you needed a special invite just
to get a chance to order the phone.
• It sold more than a million before the year was over.
2015 SAMSUNG GALAXY S6 EDGE

• This was the year Samsung switched from

making mostly-plastic phones to ones
made of ultra-premium materials like
aluminium and glass.
• The Galaxy S6 had a glass front and
back, with aluminium sides.
• Samsung’s Edge model went further, with
the curved glass sides we saw the year
before in the Note Edge.
2015 HUAWEI NEXUS 6P

• Nexus 6P is
an Android smartphone developed
and marketed by Google and
manufactured by Huawei. It succeeded
the Nexus 6 as the flagship device of
the Nexus line of Android devices by
Google.
• It featured an USB C type connector,
128 GB of internal storage, Super
AMOLED display and a fingerprint
scanner.
2015 BLACKBERRY PRIV

• BlackBerry finally gave in and made an

Android phone in 2015, the BlackBerry
Priv.
• It had a screen that slid up to reveal a
little keyboard just like the ones we
remember from classic BlackBerry Bold
models.