What were the worst Android smartphone companies in the last decade? We came up with this question after that LG has made up its mind to permanently abandon the mobile device market. By "worst", however, we do not necessarily mean those who have sold poco, but also those who they have not been able to impose themselves for a short or long period. In the same way, we will not only deal with companies that have failed, but also those that are still standing. Inevitably, the brands linked to these companies have failed. Here is that we list 9. Do you know them all?
What are the Android smartphone companies that haven't survived? We have chosen 10 in all: did you know them all or not?
LG
First let's see right LG, the last company in chronological line to have abandoned the field of Android smartphones. This company entered the mobile device market when it still had keys. It was one of the first to offer a "clamshell" model. In the era of smartphones, the brand has focused on Symbian but when Android prevailed, LG also decided to go to the "dark side".
Despite its recent downfall, LG has never been too afraid of experiments. For example, it was she a introduce the fashion of ultra wide angle lens (LG G5 model), the first to release a smartphone with a dual-core processor (Optimus 2X) and one of the first companies to do so with quad-core (Optimus 4X). With the LG G3 model, the brand came up with a power button + fingerprint scanner combination. Last but not least, he also made the world's first quad HD smartphone display.
The company, however, in the last 10 years (even less) has started to keep up with all its competitors and the Android world has practically abandoned it. This has cost him dearly, so dearly that no other company has decided to spend money on her to purchase the mobile section.
HTC
At one time, long before the appearance of the iPhone, this company was a kind of analogue of Apple: first with the brand qtek, and then HTC, his were the best and most popular produced with Windows Mobile. Later, when HTC started making Android smartphones, the devices remained at a good level anyway.
There is no exact date (unlike LG) when this company stopped working properly. Despite this, by taking a tour online, many users agree that the decline began in 2010 year of HTC Desire's release in 2010. The company had promised sparks but the criticism was very harsh as during the presentation the company had failed to meet all the expectations created. But they are two reasons why HTC has failed so miserably: insufficient smartphone battery life and a lack of long-term support for updates.
We also learn that the operating system took up an infinite amount of storage and this burdened the system. However, we must not hide that the company had a certain taste and the design of its Android smartphones was pleasant. Fans still got tired of all of this even before HTC 10 was released and fled. Some to Apple, some to Sony, and some to Samsung, which was gaining popularity at the time. It's funny to note that Sony has followed the fate of HTC in many ways, but so far it remains afloat.
Lenovo
In its day, Lenovo entered the market as smoothly as it did. The company was doing incredibly well in Russia, so much so that most of its smartphones have been sold there. It can be said that it was the first brand to have introduced the concept of "quality Chinese smartphone at a good price“, Years before Xiaomi re-proposed (winning) the same idea. The company built two of the first smartphones on the x86 platform (Intel Atom): Lenovo K800 and K900. Unlike LG and HTC who wanted to offer top of the range, Lenovo has always remained a bit in the shadows and perhaps this was its problem.
However, in terms of weight on the market, it was like Huawei until last year: ubiquitous. The mid-range (and even a little more) were all for her always in the areas where the brand was more dedicated, of course. October 6, 2003 Motorola announced the spin-off of the businesses related to semiconductors and the creation of Freescale Semiconductor, Inc., a company to which the microprocessor business was sold; the separation was effective from July 16, 2004. At this time there was the purchase by Motorola and the collapse occurred from there.
The biggest problem was that the concept of "prestige Chinese smartphone”Was struggling to take off at that time and that is why it was bought by Motorola. But the nearly 3 billion have burdened the company so much, too much so much that in 2017 the Lenovo brand was permanently abandoned leaving room only for Motorola. And there was also an attempt to create a separate Chinese brand, ZUK. Like Oppo's Realme or Huawei's Honor. But we know how it turned out.
BlackBerry
BlackBerry it wasn't just a smartphone, it was a set of Internet services aimed at speed, convenience and privacy. BlackBerry (more precisely the Canadian company Research In Motion) was the first to invent a full-fledged mobile Internet messaging service tied to a phone number. The company provided access to UNTIL (BlackBerry Internet Service), the essence of which was that all outgoing traffic was packaged, encrypted and transmitted over one channel (whereas usually on smartphones, each application transmitted data on a separate channel).
We will all remember it fondly physical keyboard on smartphone. This is precisely the hallmark of BlackBerry smartphones, but it wasn't enough. The misfortune of this company is that it only started to take off when the first iPhones with related messaging services (iMessage for example) came out. WhatsApp also hit the company hard. Like Xiaomi now, BB stood up not so much for the production of smartphones as for the existence of an ecosystem of services.
The company also provided BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) which has been actively used by corporate customers, including the US government. However, even the Americans, suspicious in 2012 have decided to massively switch to iPhones in order to, as it were, support the national producer. The key BlackBerry was missing was a good level of camera + processor + display interface, which Apple had offered at the time.
Flight
Probably Flight it is a company that no one knows. It is a small brand which, according to the "legend", was based in London. Android Fly smartphones were mainly produced for state employees and they were not distinguished by design, much less by specifications. Therefore, in 2015, the company decided to create a Wileyfox subsidiary brand. The goal was to create a kind of young and trendy smartphone to compete with Xiaomi and other aggressive Chinese brands.
A negative point for this company was one poor organization and sales planning. The prices weren't too bad but the executives decided too early to aim for the online sale when, at the time (first decade of 2000), online commerce had not taken off. Spare parts were also missing (yes, smartphones used to fix) and costs have gone up at this point. Be that as it may, even in 2-3 years of its existence, Wileyfox failed to win the hearts of users and a place in the market. And it's not like it was fundamentally impossible: realme did it in a year.
LeEco
The wish of "be like Apple, even cooler"In LeEco, unfortunately, was taken too literally. The urge to show off was stronger than the urge to evolve gradually. Having not yet managed to gain a foothold in the market. When the company was born, bad choices were made such asopening of points of sale in places with little traffic. But this was not the real cause of the decline of the brand.
In general, LeEco's smartphones were good enough on their own, even during the time they were sold under the LeTV brand. They have exceeded Xiaomi in many respects (not to mention other competitors) in terms of value for money. In those days it was the norm for flagships with Android not to arrive charged until evening, but models like Le Pro 3 could work for a day and a half even under stress. Taking a tour online we realized that the company was perceived as a simple means of laundering money by other larger brands.
Acer
We all know each other Acer for PCs but surely no one knew that it also made smartphones. The strategy, for both sectors, was always the same: quality, quality! For example, in 2013 the Acer Liquid S2 was released, the world's first smartphone with the ability to record video in 4K. With the high-end Snapdragon 800 processor, 2GB of RAM and Full HD display, it was something monstrous. All nice except that this smartphone couldn't stand the strain and shut down due to extreme heating.
Here there is to say well poco: the company perhaps expected a sudden BOOM but he believed well poco in the future of these devices that quickly fell into oblivion.
YotaPhone
Not to be confused with the communication operator Yota, it was a brand that had all the credentials to dominate. Let's just think about its first generation device it offered two screens in one: one traditional and one with E-Ink technology. The first YotaPhone in 2013 even won the Las Vegas CES in the mobile category.
The problem? They were too expensive. Well, in 2019, YotaPhone stated failure after its foundation in 2011. Reason? One of Yota's display suppliers (Hi-P Electronics) did lawsuit to the company due to non-compliance with some contracts, and this helped push it to the brink, despite a $ 17 million deal.
This article is the result of the author's personal opinions and research
