[hrbf]

Given the possible target market, there is a reason why only a handful of companies are producing competitive smartphones today. It reads as wishful thinking to me that a competitor would arise, bringing “cool” and “privacy” and whatever else along with them.

If nothing else, you simply couldn’t get the parts and manufacturing capacity needed to go beyond a niche product without effectively building the capacity out of pocket. Not to mention the headaches of dealing with network providers. And you basically will have to become an advanced digital camera manufacturer as well. Add battery life, size and price into the mix and you end up with portable consoles instead of phones. Like we have today.

Simply put: by not doing a general purpose device, you skip several metric tons of issues that occupy your focus but gain you very little.

[zozbot234]

Look at Fairphone. They're doing a modular, fully repairable phone build in a form factor that's only slightly bigger than current phones. They're not quite perfect wrt. openness, Linux status etc. but getting there.

[hrbf]

This actually confirms my points. They are a niche company doing a niche device for a completely different target market, entirely not focused on performance but eco-friendliness. They are not mainstream competitive. The devices’ camera is at best usable. Also: needs Android to work at all.