My thoughts on the compact ILC market, as a young camera user

In a recent discussion I have read comments from people who, like me, are waiting for a new small camera from Panasonic. In replying to these, some people tell they believe the market for small ILC's / high-end compacts is small and getting smaller. As someone with perhaps a unique perspective, I would like to share my thoughts here:

I am a young person (21) for whom the smartphone is appealing as a street camera. However, I still find the image quality of my Lumix G9 and even my Canon SX740 FAR surpasses that of my recent flagship smartphone (Zenfone 9), especially when viewed on my laptop PC, and most importantly for me, the IQ is retained in long focal lengths.

Despite that, it is getting harder for me to justify carrying my heavy G9 with me, and so I end up either bringing the SX740, or relying on my phone to take pictures. The truth is, a 650g camera can't match my phone's convinience, while my SX740's tiny sensor struggles in low light.

For me, the obvious answer would be a compact ILC (Olympus EP7 -sized) with a pancake prime for daily carry, and my telephoto for when I get serious. That would retain the image quality, while being as convinient to carry as my phone.

Still, I often see claims that smartphones have killed the compact ILC market, and in order to survive, camera makers focus on large full-frame setups for professionals and advanced enthusiasts. However, from my perspective, that fixation on large gear is exactly what is killing the camera industry. "Why should I carry a kg+ of gear to take decent photos? I might as well just take my phone and accept the reduced IQ." A camera setup as compact as a smartphone, with the image quality of a big ILC, is in my opinion the way for camera makers to appeal to young people, like me, who desire the IQ but don't want to give up convinience.