This article is in response to Steven Gao’s article. 

What once seemed like science fiction just a year ago has turned into a reality. PhoneBloks holds the technology of a fully-functioning modular phone. This means you can take apart physical pieces of the phone each a unique feature. Their concept video last year explains the final product quite well.

If consumers are open to the concept of the modular phone and the technology exists to support it, the release of PhoneBloks will be the largest since the release of the first iPhone in 2007. Owned by Google, this piece of technology has a fighting chance to dominate the entry-level mobile phone market, and compete with the iPhone, a smartphone that holds the exact opposite values; The concept of consumers not knowing what they want and their belief in closed systems (physically and in software). It’s motto of “built exclusively for 6 billion people” emphasizes on its incredibly large user base. Because humans love to customize and the freedom to express, I believe this phone has a competitive advantage over every manufacturer in the world.

With the purchase by Google made of PhoneBloks, that was an increase of a distribution channel of Google’s mobile OS, Android. The success of the Nexus devices that ran Vanilla Android (stock, untouched) with a niche fan base proves that there is a great chance of these modular phones become the primary carriers of Android OS. With Samsung’s sales dipping in the last quarter, they should be seriously concerned with the decreasing demand and incentive for customers to purchase Android phones from third party manufacturers.