Gen Z Largely Abandons Smartphones, Many Switch to Replacement Phones
Gen Z is increasingly abandoning smartphones, and many are turning to feature phones. Smartphones are being abandoned by Generation Z, or Gen-Z. Why? because they are said to be bored with using smartphones and are starting to look at older phones.
‘I think you can observe this among a certain Gen Z population – they are bored with the screen (smartphones),’ said one influencer of ‘dumb phone’ Jose Briones, quoted from CNBC International, Tuesday (3 March 2026).
According to him, Gen Z is starting to pivot to using feature phones. The trend has been visible in the United States for several years.
HMD Global has been one of the companies to benefit. The company is known to own the Nokia mobile phone brand that was widely popular in the early 2000s.
Based on data, feature phone sales in the US rose to tens of thousands per month in 2022. In line with the US, global sales also increased.
Counterpoint Research reported that the Middle East, Africa and India dominated the feature phone market, reaching 80% last year.
On the other hand, the Indonesian smartphone market has not fared as well. Household purchasing power has fallen for several years.
IDC in the Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker report noted the Indonesian smartphone market declined by 14.3% in 2023. The number of units shipped was only 35 million.
But conditions started to improve last year (2024). Overall, the Indonesian smartphone market grew 15.5% year-on-year to almost 40 million units in 2024.
Global smartphone shipments grew by a modest 1.5% in 2025. IDC in the Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker report explained 2025 shipments were projected at 1.25 billion units.
IDC sees downside risk for the global mobile phone market in 2026, at around 5% in an optimistic scenario, alongside rising average selling prices and longer replacement cycles.
More specifically, IDC’s December 9, 2025 report said conventional non-foldable phones would see a 1.4% decrease in shipments in 2026.
At the same time, more innovative foldable phones are predicted to grow significantly, reaching 29.7% in 2026, according to IDC’s website.
This growth is driven by the arrival of the long-awaited foldable iPhone, as well as the Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold, marking further innovation in triple-fold phones.
‘The year 2026 will be exciting for the foldable phone category with an annual growth projection of almost 30%, compared to 6% in earlier projections,’ said Nabila Popal, Senior Research Director at IDC.
‘Samsung will begin 2026 with the Galaxy Z TriFold, introducing the three-fold phone to the global mainstream market, and building momentum from the success of the Galaxy Z Fold7 in 2025. Huawei’s foldable phones with HarmonyOS Next are also expected to show strong growth, with shipments nearly doubling in 2026. However, the game-changer for the foldable category will come at the end of 2026 when Apple enters the sector,’ she added.