The Smartphone Revolution Timeline
This interactive timeline covers the decade in which the smartphone disrupted one of the largest consumer electronics industries in history — and gave rise to entirely new business models that could not have existed without it.
Use the category filters to follow a single thread:
- Platforms & Ecosystems — how iOS and Android built developer lock-in and ecosystem moats
- Devices — the hardware decisions that defined or undermined each competitor
- Corporate Strategy — acquisition bets, platform pivots, and the memos that reveal what incumbents were thinking
- Market Shifts — when market share moved and why
- Startups & New Entrants — companies like Uber that were only possible because smartphones existed
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The Smartphone Revolution
How an industry was disrupted in a decade (2004–2015)
How did incumbents with dominant market share, deep engineering talent, and massive distribution lose to new entrants — and what does the pattern teach us about recognizing and responding to platform shifts?
Hover or tap an event to reveal context and sources.
The Smartphone Revolution
How an industry was disrupted in a decade (2004–2015)
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