Gen Z Increasingly Abandoning Smartphones for Unexpected Alternatives

Interest among the younger generation in smartphones is reportedly declining, as many Gen Z individuals express growing boredom with the habit of staring at smartphone screens every day. According to ‘dumb phone’ influencer Jose Brises, a segment of Gen Z is showing signs of digital fatigue. “They are starting to get bored with screens,” he stated, as reported by CNBC International.

According to Briones, Gen Z users are beginning to look towards retro mobile phones or feature phones. This trend was first observed in the United States several years ago. HMD Global, the company behind the widely recognised Nokia brand, has been a notable beneficiary of this shift, as the brand was famous for its mobile phones in the early 2000s.

In the United States, feature phone sales have surged to tens of thousands per month since 2022, coinciding with a global decline in smartphone sales. Globally, the feature phone market continues to be dominated by the Middle East, Africa, and India, which accounted for approximately 80% of the market share last year, according to Counterpoint Research.

Latest data from Counterpoint Research indicates that feature phones maintain a solid user base, particularly in specific segments. Approximately 46.5% of low-income users choose feature phones due to price considerations, while 38.1% cite longer battery life as a primary advantage over smartphones. In the US market, feature phone usage is still dominated by the elderly at 33.2%, alongside ‘minimal-tech’ users at 29.6%.