No they don't. What a rubbish clickbait article.
All they say is that there's a (niche) trend of a few people using feature phones with expected combined sales of $2.8 million. Versus the $200 billions of iPhones alone.
this post was submitted on 27 Aug 2023
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They weren't entirely wrong. The numbers don't lie. They just don't say what the author claims it does.
It's directly in the headline: Gen Z is ditching the iPhone. That's incorrect in two ways: A) it's at best one in fifty people buying aforementioned feature phones and B) they don't even know if all buyers replace their existing phone or buy it as an additional handset.
I had a biz partner who is a centimillionaire. He has an iPhone for data, and a flip-phone for calls.
I will now tell people I have a millionaire's phone plan.
I have both a smartphone and a flip phone.
I kept both because the flip phone lets me make phone calls from my basement and many other places that the smartphone cannot.
I have never met anyone else with this setup.
the flip phone lets me make phone calls from my basement and many other places that the smartphone cannot.
Why? The smartphone supports everything the flip phone does. Honest question.
I guess the radio is a bit more efficient
Doesn't seem very likely to me given that cheap feature phones likely use cheap older parts while flagship smartphones state of the art components.
He didn't say his flip phone was cheap
I don't know what to tell you. If that's his experience...
I don’t know what to tell you
Well, you apparently don't know the cause of his experience, so duh ...
Can you not use Wi-Fi Calling?
Yes, I could. But that allows the phone company to be lazy about coverage and building their network. The primary reason I pay a monthly cell phone bill is for a good network.
It also gets into security issues that are different from cellular network use.
And what if my internet is down and I have an emergency?
How often do you have an emergency that combines lost wifi and inability to leave the basement?
The older I get the more possible that becomes. I am not 20 and bulletproof any more.
That's still more than I expected. But it doesn't look like the dramatic turn of tides.
I think it's a fad. The moment you need a certain app or feature these feature (-less) phones become frustrating quickly.
Take the idea of taking a break from your smartphone on a vacation. You end up without a camera, without a map, without public transport apps, contact-free payment, etc.
I think you'd be surprised how easy it is to live without any of those things, even in the modern world. Also, feature phones have cameras and some basic apps. They're not actually 80s cordless phones.
Doubt.
Haven't seen a flip phone in use in ages and I work among the public. Even the barely functional elderly on smartphones.
Who paid for this article? What's their angle?
Just the other day I saw an article with the exact opposite headline about how Gen z is sticking with the iPhone. Now I don't know which one is full of shit; but it's obviously one of them.
It was about how Gen Z are rejecting "droids" in favor of iPhones
Playing_both_sides.jpg
Isn't the angle just to sound interesting/controversial/unbelievable so people click and see your ads? You know, clickbait?
This is one job I'm glad AI is taking over.
This same BS headline happens every generation. As soon as any small trends form, the media latch onto it like it's gonna be the next big thing...
No, feature phones aren't gaining mass adoption again. No, feature phones aren't going to kill smartphones. It's just a subset of people deciding to downgrade, or who want to buy a secondary phone.
Soon hipsters will be carrying wireless rotary phones.
This is a thing that isn't happening, at least not among Gen Z. What a bullshit article.
As a millennial, the thought of ditching my smartphone is a thought that keeps coming up.
I did it for 3 months. I really enjoyed my time doing it and learned a lot about my usage. It was a cheap $50 experiment. After I went back to my smartphone, I uninstalled ALL social media apps. Turned off ALL notifications but left calls and messages as an exception. My smartphone is now essentially a feature phone. It's not 100% the same since the big screen does lure you in to use it but my usage is still way down and because I don't have any social media there's no reason for me to be on my phone around other people. I wholeheartedly recommend trying it for those curious.
That reminded me how a local wanna-be influencer did a smartphone detox for a week, immediately after the completion she posted an FB story: Part 1 - Reflection, how eyeopening the experience was, how much time she suddenly had for the things that truly matter etc. Subscribe to not miss the Part 2!
Same. I'm beginning to hate having it.
I don't trust these numbers, I really don't trust any article that talks about my generation.
For the past 10 years I never bought a phone for more than 300 euros.
I usually get a new phone every 3 years to have the latest tech and donate or recycle the old one.
For the last year I had an iPhone 13 pro (usually goes around 1100 euro) as a work phone and my personal Redmi Note 11 Pro I bought for 270 euros and not once I told myself: Man, this iphone is at least 3 times better than my Xiaomi. It's clearly a premium product but a middle category budget phone can match most features and even more. I still have a headphone jack, bigger 120 Hz screen, IR blaster and an amazing fingerprint sensor.
iphone is clever marketing scheme to become a status symbol for a generation that no longer has a car as one.
I though genZ only bought iPhone because of the green bubble or something?
That was never true to begin with
I'm so tempted to do this.
I did it for a few months and really enjoyed it. At the end of 3 months, I realized I could achieve nearly the same thing by turning off all notifications except messages and calls and uninstalling all social media. I realized... if I have the willpower to use a dumbphone I have the willpower to keep the distraction off my smartphone. Phone usage is now 100% intentional with the right setup.