There is no denying that smartphones are getting bigger.
Back in the days, when the industry was still young, and the smartphone market had just picked up traction, both Android and Apple were already at war for dominance, picking up the pace left of from the likes of Nokia.
At that time, phones were smaller, compact, and can be easily used using one hand.
The market had just began to flourish, when the internet had just matured, and mobile internet was just about to take off. Apps were relatively scarce, and social media platforms were still predominantly used through desktop computers.
But when tech advanced, the demand for phone aesthetic began to escalate. Manufacturers had to create phones that are bigger, to house that crisp and larger screen. While these please the eyes, big phones can be a pain for those with smaller hands, and small pockets.
Eric Migicovsky, who founded and helmed the Pebble smartwatch company, wants to bring back the days when smartphones were small.
But before that can happen, he needs to gather the masses.
To do that, he attempts to “unionize” a community of small phone lovers to get sway with phone manufacturers and suppliers.
He does that by asking like-minded people to essentially sign a petition.
Migicovsky said that he's looking for 50,000 or more people to help prove manufacturers that it would worth their time and money to make an Android phone with screen sizes under 6 inches.
In other words, Migicovsky is gathering masses to help convince companies to invest in a niche phone instead of trying to make the next big thing.
"I got the idea because I was watching the Pixel 7 announcement and was like, ‘Holy shit, they’re just making another gigantic phone,’ and that really pissed me off," said Migicovsky.
Migicovsky wants a phone that fits nicely in pocket, lighter, easy to use one-handed without dropping, and won't fall off from inside the pocket so easily.
Since he is a fan of Apple hardware, his wants future phones to be more or less, like earlier versions of the iPhone.
His attempt doesn't stop there.
Migicovsky also launched a website called smallandroidphone.com to explain his dream phone.
Long story short, Eric Migicovsky’s dream is to create an iPhone Mini, but running stock Android.
Through the site, he said that small phones are good, and can look good.
To justify his opinion, on his website, Migicovsky shows how much the Pixel phone grew.
"Extrapolating from past models, the Pixel 10 will be roughly the size of California," he jokingly said.
While him alone, and even with some tens of thousands of people, may not be able to convince companies as big and powerful as Google or Samsung to invest in his phone, Migicovsky goal at least, or initially, is to simply suggest to anybody who’d consider making a compact Android phone that there’s a market there.
And that market could be profitable.
If the 50,000 people who signed the petition would buy Migicovsky's vision of the perfect phone, based on the $700–800 price he suggests on his website, a company could make tens of millions in profit off of his estimated $10 million investment.
"It‘s hard to make money in phones, let alone making money in the world’s smallest segment. So my pitch is: charge more. We’re all here yelling that we want this. We should be willing to pay a little bit more," he said.
"If you want a small premium Android phone, this may be your last chance (ever?) to help bring back the phone category that we love," he said.
Eric Migicovsky is an American entrepreneur and an engineer.
Credited as the original founder of Pebble, Migicovsky's vision of tech began when he built smartwatches with his friends in 2008 when he was still studying engineering at the University of Waterloo
It was in April 2012, when Pebble was founded.
Migicovsky and his team launched Pebble on Kickstarter, where it became the most successful crowdfunded project in Kickstarter’s history.
In November 2016, Pebble was acquired by Fitbit, before it inevitably failed. Migicovsky left Pebble in December of 2016.
"I have somewhat of a Kickstarter history, and my premise is the people who want a small phone know they want a small phone. And if you put it in front of them — say, ‘Okay, we’re going to build a small phone, do you want one?’ — I would put money at it if you’re trustworthy and knowledgeable and you knew your shit."
Migicovsky said that he "really hopes someone else makes this."
"There’s 7 billion people on Earth. We’re not all the same. Everyone has slightly different habits and peculiarities. Some of us like these small phones," he said. "I’m cautiously optimistic that we’ll be able to rally enough troops together.”
