The Evolution of Smartphones and Storage: From Bricks to 5G Powerhouses

Smartphones have undergone tremendous evolution –from the first mobile phones that almost looked and weighed like bricks and had awkward antennae jutting out to smartphones today with sleek, beautiful bodies and form factors.

It is not just the form factor and the look and feel that has metamorphized; almost everything about this ubiquitous device has undergone a massive change.

Today, flagship smartphones flaunt a foldable display, triple and quadruple cameras, 144Hz refresh rate, and are 5G enabled. Even mid- to entry-range smartphones come with a touchscreen, great battery life, and double to triple cameras. These smart devices have become more than just a tool to stay connected with others. They are enriching our lives and reshaping the world; after all, never before has any other device combined almost every element of mass media in history.

Storage – the Unsung Innovation

Network speed, pixel count, camera quality, and battery size are often considered the benchmarks for smartphone performance and quality. However, the storage that powers and impacts the form factor and speed of these devices is often ignored. This unsung innovation, storage, is essential in enabling mobile handset vendors to deliver the latest innovations.

Now with growth of 5G enable smartphones, the volume of data generated from phones will also multiply, which will require bigger and faster storage solutions to capture data at the speed it is created and process it at the speed it is streamed or consumed.

It is not just about the speed. Over time, smartphones have become THE device one turns to for work, entertainment, gaming, shopping, banking, video recording, and many other such needs. It has become a personal assistant. As a result, it must store a humongous amount of data reliably. Therefore, as mobile phones evolve, so must the storage.

Evolution of Mobile Storage

More often than not, mobile storage is taken as a given. However, think for a minute about what will a smartphone be without storage.

Just like smartphones, storage has also undergone impressive evolution. The first embedded storage solution was a mobile disk-on-chip (mDOC) that was created by Western Digital².  Later in 2007, the first embedded storage standard, e.MMC, was put in place and coincided with the first smartphones as it offered higher speeds and capacities needed by the smartphones since these came loaded with more features.

As smartphones rapidly evolved and became more powerful and feature-rich, they demanded more responsive and faster storage solutions.

A good network speed also gave the needed spur to gaming on mobile phones in the country. Today gaming in the Middle East brings in a sizeable revenue of $4Bn³ complete with a large focus on mobile gaming. Saudi Arabia takes the lead with a market worth of $1.8 billion, which is roughly 45% of the total value.

As a result, a storage solution that addresses the current requirement of a smartphone is needed. Western Digital recently announced iNAND® MC EU551, its second-generation UFS 3.1 storage solution for mobile phones. It addresses the requirements of the latest versions of today’s smartphones, such as mixed workloads, download speeds for rich media such as 8K, and faster application launch and upload speeds.

Consumers have taken the evolution in smartphones with tremendous relish and continue to look forward to what this intelligent device offers in the foreseeable future. With 5G becoming a reality, there is a potential for another evolution in smartphone usage, just like what happened during the 4G era.

Irrespective of what changes we see in smartphones: storage will evolve and continue to play an important role in it.

About Western Digital

Western Digital is on a mission to unlock the potential of data by harnessing the possibility to use it. With Flash and HDD franchises, underpinned by advancements in memory technologies, we create breakthrough innovations and powerful data storage solutions that enable the world to actualize its aspirations. Core to our values, we recognize the urgency to combat climate change and have committed to ambitious carbon reduction goals approved by the Science Based Targets initiative. Learn more about Western Digital and the Western Digital®, SanDisk® and WD® brands at www.westerndigital.com.