ABI Report Sees Google, Amazon Driving Smartphone Innovation Next 5-6 Years

“Innovation complacency” will cause OEMs like Apple, Huawei, Microsoft and Samsung to “lag” behind other tech companies in the “post-smartphone era,” said ABI Research in a Wednesday report. ABI sees Google and Amazon taking the “lead” and driving innovation for “smartphones and related ecosystems” over the next five-six years, it said. Their “apparent strength in major growth sectors, notably computer science, allows for a more flexible approach to next-generation user experiences that are essential for creating immersive experiences and brand-new ways of human-to-machine interactions,” said the company. “Without having the heavy burden of legacy systems and hardware, these web-scale companies are in a good position to lead the market into the post-smartphone era.” By comparison, Apple, Huawei, Microsoft and Samsung “are not currently as well set up to drive future innovation in the market,” said ABI. “These players are also burdened with legacy establishments in the smartphone business, which give them little flexibility to innovate outside the box. Those in this classification, however, should not be dismissed so easily from leadership contention in the future, as they currently have a major influence on the market, mainly through brand strength and market share.”