Notwithstanding the wow factor, smart phones are facing the threat of going obsolete in another five years. This was the surprise finding from a recent survey conducted by Swedish network infrastructure firm Ericsson.

The survey was conducted on 400,000 people across 40 countries and showed that one in two smart-phone users think that smart-phones will be a thing of the past, may be in another five years. The survey also gives the rationale for the obsolescence of smart phones and adds that smart phones will be replaced by artificial intelligence enabled devices that will “enable interaction with objects without need for a smartphone screen.”

The study traced the increasing desire for bigger devices among consumers as against tiny smart phones and also the need for longer battery life. Calling it “contradictory demand," the Ericsson survey calls for better solutions to address such aspirations, reports CNBC.

Artificial intelligence

The study says artificial Intelligence would be better placed to address such demands. Signalling the trend for new solutions, it points to the surging popularity of wearable electronic assistants liked by 85 percent of the respondents in the survey. One in two respondents believes that they will be able to talk to household appliances just as they do with people.

“Smartphone users believe AI will take over many common activities, such as searching the net, getting travel guidance and as personal assistants,” Ericsson's report said.

There are many artificial intelligence products already in the market. One example is Amazon's Echo to which people can talk and receive information and also performs tasks like playing music. Google Now, Microsoft Cortana and Apple's Siri are digital personal assistants that work under artificial intelligence.

Slowing growth rate

Meanwhile, the predicted slowdown in smart phone market is already showing up. According to the latest figures, overall shipments for wearable technology are soaring and smart phone shipments will be touching 1.43 billion units by the end of 2015. It will be the first full-year of single-digit growth, as per the data from the International Data Corporation (IDC).

The dipping demand for smart phones is abetted by China changing into a replacement market and the overall slowdown in demand in many Asian, Latin American and Western European countries.

The wearable market made remarkable growth of nearly 200 percent year-on-year in the third quarter, noted the IDC data. Its total shipment volume for the quarter was 21.0 million units, up from the 7.1 million units of the same period in 2014.

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