From Xiaomi to Lenovo, exiting the gaming phone arena one after another. Is the era of gaming phones fading away?

Gaming phones, also known as gaming smartphones, have emerged as a prominent trend in the mobile technology world. With the increasing popularity of mobile games, users are seeking devices that can best meet their gaming needs. And that's where gaming phones come in.

Gaming phones have become one of the rapidly evolving technology trends in recent years. With the rise of graphics-intensive mobile games such as PUBG Mobile, Call of Duty Mobile, Genshin Impact, the demand for smartphones capable of smooth, stable, and visually appealing gaming experiences is steadily increasing. To meet this demand, phone manufacturers have been relentlessly researching and developing dedicated gaming phone products with superior advantages compared to regular smartphones.

The evolution of gaming phones

The Nokia N-Gage, released in 2003, was the world's first gaming phone, resembling handheld gaming devices like the Game Boy of that era with familiar buttons, a large screen, and Bluetooth game support. In 2005, Tiger Telematics' Gizmondo was also considered a gaming phone as it could send text messages, emails, and take photos, but it was not successful due to its high price and fierce competition with the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP.

Subsequently, gaming phones received less attention until 2017 when the Razer Phone was introduced with a 120Hz display, stereo speakers, a large battery, and a simple design. It was the first smartphone specifically designed for users' gaming needs, offering high performance, vibrant sound, and a smooth experience. The Razer Phone sparked a new trend in the smartphone market, prompting many other companies to start producing dedicated gaming phones for gamers.

As a result, many other phone manufacturers have also joined the gaming phone race with models like Xiaomi Black Shark, ZTE Nubia Red Magic, ASUS ROG Phone, Lenovo Legion Phone,... featuring standout features such as RGB lighting, liquid cooling, rugged edges, and performance-optimized software. These phones are specially designed to meet users' gaming needs. They typically have large displays, high refresh rates, powerful processors, and high RAM capacities, providing smooth and immersive gaming experiences.

Additionally, features like RGB lighting and rugged edges create a distinctive style for gaming phones, bringing youthfulness and personalization to users. Furthermore, the use of liquid cooling or vapor chamber cooling and performance-optimized software helps maintain stable performance during usage, avoiding lagging or overheating issues. In general, the emergence of these gaming phones has met the increasing demands of mobile gamers and provided a worthwhile choice for those passionate about gaming on mobile devices.

Read more: Hands-on with ASUS ROG Phone 7 Ultimate: The pinnacle of gaming phones, the 'most powerful smartphone in the world' returns

A promising market, but...

Contrary to the excellent results gaming phones deliver to avid gamers, the business outcomes for these brands are not very promising. In recent years, we've witnessed the swift rise and fall of gaming phone brands in the mobile market. There are several significant reasons explaining why gaming phone brands have struggled to sustain their existence and ultimately disappeared.

One of the main reasons is the limited revenue from software. Although gaming phones come equipped with powerful hardware configurations and high graphics processing capabilities, software is a crucial factor in attracting users. However, developing and maintaining a software ecosystem for gaming phones requires substantial investment and long-term effort. Compared to console manufacturers, gaming phone brands lack software revenue sources like app stores or in-game advertising to offset high hardware costs. This partly leads to financial difficulties and revenue challenges for gaming phone brands.

Furthermore, over the past three years, amidst the continuous economic turbulence due to pandemics and wars, the business operations of technology companies, already challenging and competitive, have become even more daunting. With low market share and weak international distribution, it's understandable why names like Xiaomi and Lenovo decide to discontinue their gaming phone ventures. Currently, the playing field is dominated by only two major players, ASUS and ZTE, with their flagship models, ROG Phone and Red Magic. Both manufacturers have heavily invested in technology development and user experience enhancement, as well as enjoying better international market positions.

Moreover, competition with traditional smartphones has also contributed to the disappearance of gaming phone brands. Nowadays, many regular smartphones are equipped with powerful hardware configurations and gaming capabilities almost equivalent to gaming phones (excluding cooling capabilities and some specialized features), yet they are priced lower or similarly.

This creates an attractive choice for users because they can get a good gaming phone without having to pay a higher price or sacrifice essential features such as camera quality or device slimness. This fierce competition has eroded the advantage of gaming phone brands and led to declining sales figures for them.

Another factor contributing to the disappearance of gaming phone brands is the niche market they cater to. Although the number of mobile gamers is increasing, not all of them are interested in playing games on a professional gaming phone. The sales figures of mid-range smartphones with good configurations for gaming, surpassing those of high-end gaming phones, are the clearest evidence of this.

While the mobile gaming market is growing rapidly, mobile gamers typically opt for compact devices with similar configurations for gaming. Conversely, gaming on PCs or consoles requires powerful, rugged configurations for the ultimate gaming experience. Therefore, although the mobile gaming market is growing, the sales of gaming phones do not increase proportionally.

In conclusion, the disappearance of gaming phone brands has several reasons, including the lack of software revenue to offset hardware costs, competition with traditional smartphones offering equivalent configurations at lower prices, and a small market with limited demand for mobile gaming. These factors have presented insurmountable challenges for gaming phone brands, leading to their decline and disappearance from the market.

Will gaming phones vanish?

Uncertainty doesn't mean inevitability! Gaming phones are not completely disappearing. While some brands have faced difficulties and retreated from the market, others continue to develop and release gaming phone products. One clear indication that the gaming phone market is still exploitable is the launch event of the new generation ROG Phone 7 Series by ASUS. Even Samsung, a giant in the smartphone industry, has developed its own technologies catering to the gaming phone market.

Although the gaming phone market is not as widespread as the regular phone market, there is still a user base passionate about mobile gaming and demanding better gaming experiences. Gaming phones are still highly regarded for their performance, quality displays, and graphic processing capabilities. This creates a niche market, albeit small, sufficient to sustain the existence of gaming phone brands and continue the development of new products.

Mobile Esports disciplines are increasingly growing and becoming an integral part of the gaming community. Major tournaments like PUBG Mobile's Global Championship, Free Fire World Series, Arena of Valor World Cup, and Clash Royale League have attracted the attention and participation of millions of players worldwide.

The growth of Mobile Esports creates an increasing demand for gaming phones with high performance and smooth gaming capabilities. To meet this demand, gaming phone brands need to continue developing and improving their products. Mobile phones optimized for Mobile Esports will feature powerful configurations, high-quality displays with high refresh rates, precise interaction capabilities, and long battery life.

Increasing the presence of their gaming phone products at tournaments also contributes to bringing these products closer to customers. ASUS has been applying this strategy by becoming a sponsor for SEA Games 32 with the ROG Phone as the official gaming device. Through this sponsorship, ASUS's gaming phone products have gained wider recognition among both fans and professional gamers.

Similarly, although not a dedicated gaming phone manufacturer, Samsung has also adopted this strategy in recent years. With the Galaxy A Series 2022, Samsung organized the 'First Professional Esports Academy in Vietnam' program featuring the game PUBG: Mobile. Continuing this year, Samsung brings the 'First Professional Esports Academy in Vietnam' program featuring the game Liên Quân Mobile with professional players such as Lai Bâng, Red, NoFear,...

Conclusion

While gaming phones face challenges, there are no clear signs indicating their complete disappearance. Gaming phone brands like ASUS, ZTE, and others continue to develop and release new products. Additionally, while this market may be smaller than that of regular smartphones, there is still a user base passionate about mobile gaming, sustaining demand for these products.

Furthermore, the development of gaming phones and the growing Mobile Esports market doesn't mean challenges have vanished. Brands still have to contend with competition from regular smartphones and constantly innovate to meet the increasingly high demands of gamers. However, with the growth of Mobile Esports, the demand for high-quality gaming phones continues to exist, driving the development of the gaming smartphone industry.

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