What will happen to Apple and Samsung now? These phones have become the first choice of youth!
Youngsters Like Feature Phones: To avoid the hassles of using the phone continuously, most youngsters nowadays prefer simple phones. These phones are attracting those youngsters who want to leave their smartphones and use feature phones. A new phone named "The Boring Phone" has recently come into the limelight. This phone was launched at Milan Design Week in April. It has been jointly made by Heineken Beer and fashion retailer Bodega.
The youth feel that the latest phones with advanced features are distracting them and causing stress. Due to this thinking, the trend of old things is increasing again, which is called the Neutro Trend. In the Neutro Trend, old vinyl records, cassettes, 8-bit video games, and old phones are being liked a lot.
The return of the flip phone
Nokia 3310 was re-launched in 2017 as a result of the trend of preferring old-fashioned feature phones over smartphones. This trend started in the US last year. A big reason for this was TikTokers running the #bringbackflipphones hashtag on TikTok. HMD, the company that re-launched Nokia, saw that the sales of their flip phones doubled by April 2023. At the same time, companies like Punkt, which makes feature phones or minimalist phones, have also seen an increase in sales.
What will happen to Apple and Samsung?
What will happen to big smartphone makers like Apple and Samsung if feature phones are being preferred more? Joe Birch, a technology analyst at research firm Mintel, says that for now there is no threat to Apple and Samsung. Even now 9 out of 10 phones sold are smartphones and feature phones are meant for a certain class only. But it is also true that today's youth are changing the way they use their smartphones. They are worried about the disadvantages of always being online. According to research company GWI, 3 out of 5 youth want to be online for a short time.
A research institute, Portulans Institute, says that one of the reasons for young people coming online less is their concern about privacy. Youngsters fear that social media platforms or the government will steal their information. This change in the youth can bring old technology back into vogue. However, in today's era, it is difficult to remain completely offline because essential services like education, healthcare, and finance are now available online.