ZTE ECO-MOBIUS modular phone concept at CES


ZTE’s concept Eco-Mobius modular phone system has been spied at CES complete with removable modules and wooden back.

The Eco-Mobius is a concept phone from ZTE sporting removable modules allowing users to upgrade their phone in parts rather than having to by a whole new phone to get the latest hardware.

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The idea is similar to Phonebloks, but rather than clipping the phone modules together like Lego, the parts slide together on rails. These photos taken at the ZTE booth at CES show the Eco-Mobius with removable memory, GPU, CPU, RAM, main camera and a cool optional wooden rear.

Can you see a modular phone in your life in the future?

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8 Comments

  1. Xiaolu
    January 7, 2014

    Nice! Seems modular phones are gonna be 2014 trend. ZTE, don’t forget WE NEED to set a STANDARD. Why not talk to Motorola, Phonebloks and Xiaomi?

    • Ruben
      January 7, 2014

      I still don’t see this happening for four reasons:

      1) It will be more expensive to produce
      2) Currently it might cost you $50 more to go from 16gb to 32gb, but third party companies could then charge a premium of under $20, thus taking profits away from phone manufacturers.
      3) This will make phones bigger and heavier.
      4) Most processors are SOC, meaning that all of what’s included in that would be on one block, so it wouldn’t nearly be as modular as they’d like to make you believe.

      • andofranco
        January 8, 2014

        China companies should be the first to show the world how to do this quickly & cheaply. If you let some (no money/budget/resources) kickstaters or old American brand like Motorola getting it done, the end product will be crazy expensive and limited in choice of parts you can swap in/out.

      • Xiaolu
        January 8, 2014

        According to the source: “The phone is divided into four independent modules: LCD, core, camera,
        and battery. The LCD module includes the screen and lens; the core
        module consists of a removable CPU, GPU, ROM and RAM and other
        electronic parts. The four modules can be easily disassembled and
        assembled through a sliding track design” so:

        1) It won’t be that difficult technically speaking or costly (you can produce millions of modules and drop the cost -large scale production).
        2) ZTE can always sell the main body parts and make money!
        3) It might… but who NEEDS 5mm thick phones?
        4) See the above description of the designers. This pioneering movement will give a strong advantage to the first company that achieves to get a nice modular platform.

  2. Xiaolu
    January 8, 2014

    Nice! Seems modular phones are gonna be 2014 trend. ZTE, don’t forget WE NEED to set a STANDARD. Why not talk to Motorola, Phonebloks and Xiaomi?

    • Guest
      January 8, 2014

      I still don’t see this happening for four reasons:

      1) It will be more expensive to produce
      2) Currently it might cost you $50 more to go from 16gb to 32gb, but third party companies could then charge a premium of under $20, thus taking profits away from phone manufacturers.
      3) This will make phones bigger and heavier.
      4) Most processors are SOC, meaning that all of what’s included in that would be on one block, so it wouldn’t nearly be as modular as they’d like to make you believe.

    • Guest
      January 8, 2014

      China companies should be the first to show the world how to do this quickly & cheaply. If you let some (no money/budget/resources) kickstaters or old American brand like Motorola getting it done, the end product will be crazy expensive and limited in choice of parts you can swap in/out.

    • Xiaolu
      January 8, 2014

      According to the source: “The phone is divided into four independent modules: LCD, core, camera,
      and battery. The LCD module includes the screen and lens; the core
      module consists of a removable CPU, GPU, ROM and RAM and other
      electronic parts. The four modules can be easily disassembled and
      assembled through a sliding track design” so:

      1) It won’t be that difficult technically speaking or costly (you can produce millions of modules and drop the cost -large scale production).
      2) ZTE can always sell the main body parts and make money!
      3) It might… but who NEEDS 5mm thick phones?
      4) See the above description of the designers. This pioneering movement will give a strong advantage to the first company that achieves to get a nice modular platform.