No Longer should we have to deal with insufficient phone storage

Published in El Pais, 27 Feb 2018

We have all experienced this smartphone headache at one point or another, you attempt to take a photo/video, download music or the latest trending app and the notification comes up warning on insufficient storage leaving you with the difficult decision on what to erase to make room. iPhone users continually face this problem as unlike their android counterpart they have no option to include a micro SD card but even those that have that option can only use it to save pictures and music and are unable to install applications.

To many this may seem like a trivial matter, especially those that have the latest high-end phones with many coming with a minimum of 32 GB but for many that choose budget phones, these only come with 4 to 8 GB worth of internal storage. With applications requiring larger storage as time goes on, this essentially makes the phone unusable. Yes, these phones are relatively inexpensive ranging from $50-$100 and you can make the argument that you get what you pay for but for many these budget smartphones are a lifeline. In countries like Bolivia calling and texting is still expensive and apps like WhatsApp can allow affordable texting and calling over the internet.

What is even more absurd is that storage is one of the cheapest features in a phone, meaning companies can introduce these budget phones with larger storage at still an affordable price. Apple reportedly spent $16 on its 32 GB storage for iPhone 7 model and $22 on its 64GB storage for the iPhone X. The fact that Apple charges $150 to upgrade the storage is a story for another time.

Now of course phone manufacturers are not charities, they build and sell everything with the intention of making a profit. I am not asking them to throw consumers in developing countries a handout, merely I am hoping they start to do what all businesses must do to succeed, listen to the consumers. Manufacturers who end the production of these low storage phones in exchange for phones with a minimum of 16GB could see a large increase in sales even if it means a modest increase in price.

Phone innovation has hit a period of stagnation but at least with the top models such as iPhone and Galaxy are starting to take note that selling a phone with a small amount of storage just won’t do anymore. I hope soon that manufacturers who develop these entry level phones come to the same conclusion.