Google's Next Phase of Project Ara: Spiral 2 Modular Phone

[kodiak799]

I bet cost kills this. More R&D because you have multiple manufacturers trying to be compatible with everyone else. And then you won't get scale production volumes. So it costs a few hundred more than an S6 or Moto X, and that will relegate it to niche market.

 

[FoxKat]

I hope you're wrong. I'd love to see this come to market. Just think, you can prioritize your phone features to match your pocketbook now, and then upgrade where you had to sacrifice later. This instead of having to take certain sacrifices you don't want in order to get something you do want or need, and being stuck with keeping that phone or doing an entirely new upgrade and tossing the old one.

This certainly has the potential to be better for the ecology since instead of disposing of the entire phone into landfills in a relatively short couple years you might only be tossing the outdated camera or Bluetooth module. It will reduce the number of complete phone bodies manufactured but increase the number of options and upgrades.

 

[pc747]

I bet cost kills this. More R&D because you have multiple manufacturers trying to be compatible with everyone else. And then you won't get scale production volumes. So it costs a few hundred more than an S6 or Moto X, and that will relegate it to niche market.

Agreed.
Early on it will just be a niche device and that is OK. But can Google garner the same type of developer buzz that catapulted android in 2009?

The current development group have either grown weary of developing for Android or find themselves no longer relevant given most devices have features baked in and the device is locked.
I can see Google relying on a younger generation to propel ara just as what happened with Android. Can they grab enough buzz to make the other manufacturers want to join in?
Because that is what it is going to take in order for ara to be successful.

 

[kodiak799]

Can they grab enough buzz to make the other manufacturers want to join in?

The OEM's would have to be dragged kicking and screaming to participate in a significant way. It's all about ecosystem and acquiring customers. Samsung knows they have a base of sales from previous Galaxy owners with each new release.

This may be a way for component makers to increase sales and even margins when they aren't squeezed as suppliers to the big OEM's. But don't expect Sammie or Moto to embrace this because it will cannibalize their bottom line.