Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Japan has a loves flip phones....

jamezr

jamezr

macrumors P6
Original poster
Aug 7, 2011
16,482
20,145
US
Who would have thunk it? Smartphone sales are declining while flip phone sales are growing....
For the first time in seven years, flip-phone shipments grew -- and grew by 5.7 percent to a hard-to-comprehend 10.58 million units. In the same year, smartphones units shipped fell 5.3 percent, down to 27.7 million. Flip-phones still make up a surprisingly large proportion of phone sales in Japan and it's actually the second year in a row that the market research firm has noted a drop in smart device sales. MM Research's Hideaki Yokota told Reuters: "Smartphones are also peaking in terms of functionality and they tend to last a long time as well, so there are fewer renewals."
Click to expand...

http://www.engadget.com/2015/02/17/japan-flip-phone-gara-kei-feature-phone/?ncid=rss_truncated
 
I frequently visit Japan on business. For those unfamiliar with their culture the differences are challenging to understand. Flip phones have maintained a very big presence over the decade I've done business there. It's all about having a phone that meets their personal use pattern.
 
People in Japan must be sick of smartphones and social networks taking over their lives. Flip phones are simple and don't have 500 million features to get lost in (read: suckered in and then addicted). Plus they don't affect productivity as much, and that's a big deal in Japan.
 
Japan has a love for flip phones....

Japan has a love of bukaki too. Coincidence? ;)

----------
Paradoxally said:
People in Japan must be sick of smartphones and social networks taking over their lives. Flip phones are simple and don't have 500 million features to get lost in (read: suckered in and then addicted). Plus they don't affect productivity as much, and that's a big deal in Japan.
Click to expand...

And yet their toilets have more buttons and features than cockpit of the starship enterprise. Clearly poop productivity benefits from modern technology.
 
Keep in mind that many of these Japanese flip phones a are not dumb phones or retro phones.

They are smart phones with flip phone form factors. Messaging, email, social, full browsers.

Thr Docomo Style being an example.
 
If I can find the link there is a jap site doing a case for the iPhone turning it into a flip phone
 
If flip phones become the next huge trend......
Could Apple make this????

umang1.jpg
 
Renzatic said:
Wait. You had a Blackberry Storm? I thought I was the only one!
Click to expand...

Yea it was the first gen which had the screen gap. Never tried the second gen which kinda fixed it as I went straight to the Droid X after it.

I will say that the clicky screen was pretty awesome and the extra functionality it brought was pretty cool. For some reason I could type extremely fast on that phone despite the size.
 
JoEw said:
Aging population.
Click to expand...

Partly. There are nationalistic and cultural elements as well. Who makes these phones? Hitachi. Sony. Fujitsu. Toshiba.

And I recall reading that Japan has one of the highest costing cellular service rates on the planet, so flip phones help get cost down.

And I can see the appeal. Damn near infinite battery life. No getting harassed with notifications every 10 seconds. Durable as all hell.
 
Paradoxally said:
People in Japan must be sick of smartphones and social networks taking over their lives. Flip phones are simple and don't have 500 million features to get lost in (read: suckered in and then addicted). Plus they don't affect productivity as much, and that's a big deal in Japan.
Click to expand...


....these are full fledged Android devices in a flip physical form.
 
TheHateMachine said:
Yea it was the first gen which had the screen gap. Never tried the second gen which kinda fixed it as I went straight to the Droid X after it.

I will say that the clicky screen was pretty awesome and the extra functionality it brought was pretty cool. For some reason I could type extremely fast on that phone despite the size.
Click to expand...

The clicky screen was pretty cool, though I'd say it was the only thing I liked about the Storm. I remember how, at least once a week, I'd get calls that'd hang the entire phone. It'd ring, I'd look down, see it struggling to open up the phone UI, eventually displaying "UNKNOWN NUMBER", then it'd hard lock. I wouldn't be able to exit back to the home screen or even power the phone down, since that was a software feature. I'd have to pop the battery out, and reboot the entire phone, which usually took about 20 minutes to do.

...all because I got a phonecall.

I still consider it the worst $300 I've ever spent.

mrkramer said:
I had one too since I was on Verizon at the time and they didn't have the iPhone.
Click to expand...

That's exactly why I ended up getting one. Wish I waited.
 
Lots of internet chatter about flip phones recently with one being prominently featured in "50 Shades of Grey" this weekend.

Who knows, maybe it will see a revival or sorts as people look to uncomplicate their days.
 
I've had the same "flip" phone since 2009. The iPhone never seemed to appeal to me to get over what I use:

200+ drops, no dropped calls, and I've never had it in a case.

LG%20KEYBO%209100.jpg


It doesn't do as much as the iphone, but basically everything I do on it I get in and out faster than I would in iOS.
 
I still use a flip for work. Samsung Rugby. Battery lasts about a week, reception is great, and it's tough as nails.

I actually used it to smash ice off the communal mailbox door after freezing rain.

The only thing is T9, which is actually quite good for normal text, is such a pain with anything it doesn't recognize (names, numbers).

I imagine an advanced version of a flip-phone could be pretty good for some people. I can see the hipsters picking up on it, unless they find a way to stick a vintage aerial antenna on a rotary phone. :rolleyes:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back