Smartphone vendors, apart from the big two, are now betting on a recovery in sales later in 2023, by stimulating their channels and plotting new marketing campaigns. As always there is a mixture of hope and self fulfilment here, since such activity is bound to have some impact on sales. However, any uptick will quickly fizzle out unless there is a genuine upturn in demand for consumer devices. Smartphones have admittedly become so embedded in our existence that the sector is distinct from say tablets and laptops, which are likely to prove harder to stimulate. But there is also a sense that there is little need to change models as often as every two years just to obtain the latest…