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How many pre smartphone launch 'leaks' will it take before people realise it's a gimmick?

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Sushant Talwar
Sushant TalwarDec 05, 2017 | 10:09

How many pre smartphone launch 'leaks' will it take before people realise it's a gimmick?

There's no putting a price on the charm of witnessing a new phone being introduced to the world. From the launch events of the initial iPhones – which brought with them a unique kind of showmanship courtesy of Apple's former CEO, Steve Jobs – the unveiling of these much-awaited gadgets has become a series of spectacle that the average tech enthusiast eagerly awaits all year.  For them, this act of unveiling is an exhilarating feeling that is mystery and magic wrapped into one.

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Despite the industry growing at a rapid pace, and these launch events only becoming grander in scale, over the years, the charm has greatly reduced. However, it's not due to the ever-increasing number of smartphones every day, rather because of the constant flow of leaks in the days leading up to the launch of a device that these mega-events have started to feel a lot less magical.

In recent times, these leaks have become so revealing that they leave little to the imagination about the device by the time it's officially introduced to the world. 

So with that in mind, it's only fair to ask, why do these big tech giants who are often seen preaching about the importance of privacy and data security, allowing sensitive data about their upcoming products leaking to the wild west that social media has become? 

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Economics at play

The answer to this question is quite simple – sales. Honestly, leaks aren’t new and contrary to popular belief – or what the smartphone manufacturers say – are often initiated with the blessings of the top management of the smartphone manufacturers themselves. In the modern day, they've weirdly become a new form of marketing and understandably so.

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For a smartphone manufacturer, working on a new flagship, controlled leaks, and teasers – like the ones used by OnePlus – serve as a great way to help build hype around a smartphone before it’s launched. By periodically revealing some interesting information about the device – for example, the inclusion of a new technology or hardware – they can keep the rumour mill churning and their legion of followers hooked.

But as they say, too much of anything is bad, and that is increasingly turning out to be the case with the smartphone industry these days, which is seeing full phone specs and accurate renders making way to the press weeks and months before the launch of a device. In the form of unconfirmed leaks, customers are getting to know almost all the updates of upcoming devices.

Granted there are a number of factors at play, multiple points through which these leaks occur, but what cannot be denied is that there isn't enough being done to curb the illicit leak of information about mobile phones before their launch. 

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Why it's wrong

Though, on the surface, there is not much wrong with the idea of updating customers with the latest about eagerly awaited devices through teasers or even controlled leaks, but as we've mentioned above, the problem arises when the whole situation turns into a farce and the companies go through elaborate launch events to unveil a product that has already been unveiled through unofficial channels. 

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In an age of increased attention on data security, the narrative of tech giants falling prey to tricks of the likes of Evan Blass – the man behind Twitter handle @evleaks who has been known to leak accurate and detailed information about upcoming phones – and third-party vendors, year after year, is extremely difficult to believe. 

As was seen in the days when Steve Jobs was at the helm of Apple, its not impossible to keep a tight lid on the leak of information ahead of important product launches. Granted it was a different time and a lot less challenging to keep information under wraps, but it can't be ignored that with the resources at the disposal of these tech giants today, they can put an end to leaks if they so desire. 

But what they choose to do is indulge in cheap tricks — all in the hope that customers will quit buying devices from their competitors while they bring theirs to the market. But in the process, they are doing so by wrongly influencing customer behaviour by using the spread of unverified and, at times, even misleading information – something that these big multinationals must not be allowed to get away with. 

Smartphone manufacturers need to understand that by encouraging the spread of unverified news in the garb of playing marketing games is akin to jumping on ethical minefields that will hurt them sooner or later. Furthermore, indulging in the occasional leak is a poor marketing ploy, one that doesn't seem to be working anymore and is creating more confusion than excitement.

These companies need to realise that with too many leaks, the buzz for any new product is only dampened, and they start feeling old even as they get released. It is also prudent to remember that magic and mystery – apart from their brilliant designs and top of the line hardware – and not cheap tricks make for the biggest success stories. 

So, maybe it's time the industry took a step back and clamped down on the spread of unverified information about their products. And if they really don't care about the magic and mystery of it all, and want to keep the fans hooked all the while, then teasers through official channels, not unverified leaks is the way forward.

Last updated: December 05, 2017 | 10:09
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