The AI boom is making the cheapest smartphones disappear

(restofworld.org)

36 points | by jethronethro 8 hours ago

10 comments

  • windex 24 minutes ago
    I dont mind old phones, i just want to replace my batteries. I still remember my old nokia and popping out batteries to pop in another. Was perfect.
  • _ifton 2 hours ago
    iPhone se3 (A15 chip, decent), is about $130 refurbished. It has depreciated, and continues to do so. But I do wonder if there is another to take it's place in the future.
    • rootsudo 56 minutes ago
      Pixel 8 also? Time to buy.
  • unddoch 7 hours ago
    Similarly, data center loans are starting to make cheap mortgages disappear.
    • gonzalohm 1 hour ago
      Care to elaborate? Are you saying that because banks are loaning to data centers, the rest of the people are experiencing an increase in mortgage rates?
      • francisofascii 34 minutes ago
        The data center financing is driving up yields. Mortgage rates are based on adding a spread (maybe 2%) to the 10-year tresury (currently at 5.26%).
  • TitaRusell 5 hours ago
    I refuse to pay 1200 eurodollars for a phone or worse go on some shitty plan. Sadly AI boom is killing midrange phones.
  • stuaxo 4 hours ago
    So nobody will be able to afford anything, great work - this sort of thing always goes well
  • mrheosuper 3 hours ago
    Wrong, cheapest smartphone will always exist.
    • euroderf 2 hours ago
      "The poor will always be with you, and they too need phones." -Jesus
  • BurnerBurner 8 hours ago
    I heard they are downgrading to 12GB ram too
    • theandrewbailey 28 minutes ago
      Oh, the horror. I remember when a 12GB disk was more than you could ever use in your life.
  • georgemcbay 7 hours ago
    On one hand, despite being someone who makes a living writing software for mobile devices I haven't bought a new phone in more than 5 years because it is so much cheaper to just buy a 1-2 year old used phone in nearly perfect condition and all the new 'innovations' are worthless bullshit.

    On the other hand, I'm sure this will trickle into the used market and still impact me so excuse me while old man yells at cloud.

    • gonzalohm 1 hour ago
      Except that a 1-2 year old phone already has noticeable battery wear. I really hope the EU ends up forcing manufacturers to make changing batteries easy
  • Pawenniag 3 hours ago
    [flagged]
  • aaron695 6 hours ago
    [dead]