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What will continue to the smartphone, which has become the best -selling consumption device worldwide in just over a decade?Although the greatest manufacturers such as Apple and Samsung have new phones with more functionalities and better performance, smartphones sales have slowed down and the main markets are saturated.

The next catalyst for smartphones could come with the possibilities offeredVirtual and augmented reality.

But some analysts argue that something completely different can supplant the smartphone.

Amy Webb, founder of Future Today Institute, an organization that studies the technological market, said in its annual trends that 2018 "marks the beginning of the end of traditional smartphones" and that a transition to a new era of theComputer and connected devices based on voice, gestures and touches.

"The transition from smartphones to those of intelligent technology and invisible interfaces to dress - auricular with biometric sensors and speakers; rings and bracelets that detect the movement; smart glasses that record and show information - will forever change the way we experience thephysical world, "Webb wrote.

Other analysts estimate that the smartphone is not disappearing yet and will not do so in the short term, even if the market is stopping.

"The smartphone is not going to disappear, but it could change its appearance and its form factor," says David McQueen, an ABI Research connected device analyst."The smartphones market still has for many years," he adds.

McQueen said in a recent report that the mobile industry is evolving at devices with hands -free experiences, fueled by artificial intelligence, mixed reality and gesture control.

The new devices will also offer improved biometric characteristics, as facial recognition, and changes such as folding screens.

They lead innovation.

Abi Research says that "Google and Amazon will lead and boost the innovation of smartphones and ecosystems linked during the next five or six years" due to their strength in these emerging technologies.

Smartphones world sales are expected to enter 0.7% in 2018, at 1.455 million units, according to the IDC research company.Although the firm itself considers that the smartphone market will be recovered and foresees that in 2022 the 1.646 million units.

"We still believe that the Samrtphones market will have healthy growth in the coming years, although finding those market segments and competing in them is increasingly difficult," said IDC analyst Ryan Reith Reith.

Bob Odonnell, founder of Technalysis Research, considered that smartphone sales have slowed down in the United States and other markets for the end of operators' offers.In Uruguay, 89% of the population is a usual Internet user and almost all do so from a cell phone, according to a survey conducted by the profile of the Uruguayan Internet user of the Radar Group.

"Because people are paying full price for their phones, they keep them longer," argued the analyst.

The market could gain impulse in 2019 with the 5G and a possible appearance of the first devices with folding or flexible screens, according to Odonnell.

"People have been talking about them (folding screens) for some time and I think we can finally see the first next year," he advanced."It will be interesting because it opens the possibility of a larger screen on a smaller device," he said.

Odonnell argues that smartphones remain preferred by consumers despite the arrival of new devices such as the smart speakers of Amazon and Google.

Although it is probable that the next innovations are even more "intelligent" devices than the current generation, with incorporated artificial intelligence.

PlegablesLa próxima gran modificación de los teléfonos inteligentes serán las pantallas plegables.In early November, Samsung presented a new device that functions as ‘smartphone’ when it is bent and as a tablet when it opens.A new challenge to Apple in this industry.Speakers.It is an intelligent speaker that, in addition to allowing music, works as an instrument to answer questions.It is one of the best -selling products on the Internet in the United States and competes with Google Home, which is taking advantage in recent months.VelocidadLa tecnología 5G, que promete un cambio drástico en la velocidad de Internet móvil en los celulares, llegaría a los teléfonos el próximo año. El gigante de telecomunicaciones de AT&T trabaja junto a Samsung en un teléfono para empezar a ofrecerlo en 2019.Apple would launch its first iPhone of this style in 2020.