Red alarm

These are the feelings from the well-known story with (Product) Red.

Not a week has passed since the release of the well-known smartphone in red color to the market, as it has already managed to pretty numb the eyes. Only the lazy did not ride the 'trend': in social networks, the employees of different companies responsible for PR considered it necessary to beat this event in every possible way, drawing attention to their products and services. Reviewers of devices immediately jumped into modding new items, complaining about the white design of the front panel of the device. Accessory manufacturers immediately responded with relevant suggestions. Media attention is, of course, good, but let's skip the hype, as well as talk about charity, which is by no means condemned. The situation reveals one characteristic of a modern smartphone as a class, which will be discussed in this material.

Smartphones have gotten boring

Has the industry reached the level of development when the release of a red (albeit flagship) device becomes an event? Apparently, it is. From store shelves, countless visually more or less identical rectangular bars, the colors of which are limited to white, black, gray, look at potential buyers, with very rare exceptions there are 'bold' gold, blue and pink colors. External differentiation has clearly not worked for a long time, so at certain intervals this or that company collaborates with third-party organizations for it in order to create a new design for a popular device. We remember the limited series of smartphones Samsung, based on the DC and Marvel franchises, the cooperation of Oppo and Nubia with football giants, visually striking smartphones HTC X Phunk and MOBO, and even BlackBerry decided to experiment with Z10 Developer Edition. This is not to say that any of the listed smartphones became a super-hit, although there were all chances.

HTC 10 Camelia Red

So why is everyone so grasping for the 'red apple'? Maybe because it breaks the monotonous range of premium smartphones, which come in a maximum of three colors and two sizes? Apparently, manufacturers, looking at the general trends in the market, did not dare to take such steps for a long time. It is not worth talking about rashness yet, it is quite possible that sales of a red smartphone will go, especially in China, where this color is a symbol of prosperity and happiness. But Cupertino did nothing new, cooperation with (RED) has been going on for several years, and other manufacturers often released red versions of their devices. This idea is perfectly illustrated by this review by Lewis Hilsenteger.

Apparently, the user is actually bored and needs bright spots in this black and gray ocean of devices. And they heard him. Not far off, the S8 / S8 + in Orchid Gray, green OPPO R9s, Huawei, which has partnered with Pantone, boasts a blue and green performance of the P10, if the Pixel in Really Blue were not so rare, then who knows, maybe everything would have been different. OnePlus slightly breaks this logical row with the black version of the 3T, we will write it off as an exception.

Premium color

There was a time when the flagship color was silver, then the fashion for gold and its variations came, someone will say that this is a new color of the top segment. I would have to argue that there is nothing revolutionary about this, and the already mentioned $ 10 accessory manufacturers are ready to provide you with a variety of colors and textures for your flagship. But that's not the point. As I have repeatedly noted, the smartphone market is oversaturated and, in search of opportunities for differentiation, many manufacturers forget about the color of the case, believing that for most it is not important. So maybe it's time to change the approach? Remember at least the S6 Edge in green, a beautiful device, geeks and aesthetes are delighted, but the limited nature and the corresponding price positioning did not allow the color to become popular.

I'm not talking about the fact that before everything was much better, there are more colors, etc., but the pace and number of smartphones released on the market leaves less and less desire to go into their features and technical characteristics. So maybe it's time for manufacturers to start releasing bright smartphones again in the framework of mass lines, and not limited editions? I would venture to suggest that all this anticipates a new trend, if not this year, then one of its quarters – bright versions of devices in the top and middle price segments. Let's hit with color on dull smartphones?

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