The Specs War: Are Phone Makers Giving Consumers The Best or is Quality Compromised In The 'Arms' Race...

Every year, phone  manufacturers (smartphones to be precise) release at least one new device which is an iterative update from the previous year's phone if a predecessor existed. Changes are made to at least 2 critical characteristics of the phone,either the processor is made faster, the display made sharper or larger. These improvements vary in size,from minor to quantum leaps. For example a single core processor married to 1 GB RAM being upgraded to dual core/4 GB RAM.

These guys making these phones are in the business to make money,new and improved products means the possibility of more revenue. The main question is whether these yearly updates a really worth your precious kwachas. Is the newer device that different in terms of performance and quality that you need to change it every year or are we consumers simply hoodwinked by the supposed superior spec sheet that we quickly rush to buy one?  Bear in mind, Zambia is new to the concept of contract phone so most of consumers get unlocked brand new phones for a pretty penny and the resale market is not so friendly, meaning you incur a lost when switching from your Galaxy S III to an S 4.

Undoubtedly, a good number of the people I have spoken to that have changed phones on a yearly basis in the last 3 years all claim it was worth it. Others say,"why get the iPhone 5 when i can wait for the 6?". The disciplined ones do wait,while others buckle under envy pressure.

Now taking a different direction, what happens when specs bottom out or reach their highest possible level? Will we now enter personal computer territory? Screens can't go beyond 5",that's a phablet. What comes after 1080p display?4K? Can a 4-5 inch screen accommodate that number of pixels? Unless all these OEMs have ways to keep pushing up specs,I expect a road block of sorts on the next 2 years. At that point,improvements will have to well thought and innovative.

Not being a journalist,means my train of thought gets derailed most of the time and I lose track of what I'm trying to put across....thoughts of the wonder consumer trying not to buy every new phone that is announced.