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Only in Japan: flip phone share growing, smartphones on decline

By Daniel Petrov

Updated: Feb 16, 2015, 9:20 AM

Only in Japan: flip phone share growing, smartphones on decline

Remember the good old days, and the reassuring click when you close your flip phone, signalling to your brain that the call has indeed ended? Or the ultimate convenience to flip it open, and have the microphone right next to your mouth, while the earpiece is sitting firmly to your ear, instead of fumbling with giant screen phone that are now increasingly hard to grasp?

Well, the Japanese do, and they seem to have a newfound love for the flip phone form factor. Well, this being Japan, the flippers are a bit richer in functionalities than those in the days past, but still it is intriguing to hear that their market share actually increased last year. Flip phone shipments were up 5.7% to 10.6 million in 2014, while smartphone ones declined 5.3% for yet another year in Japan.

The culprit might be the country's outrageous smartphone data plan prices, which are much higher than if you are just donning a flip phone for talk, text and light web usage. We bet those good ol' flippers are a dime a dozen, too, which might have spearheaded their proliferation amongst Japan's aging population, contrary to the rest of the world.

source: Reuters

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Daniel, a devoted tech writer at PhoneArena from 2010 to 2025, has been engrossed in mobile technology since the Windows Mobile era. His expertise spans mobile hardware, software, and carrier networks, and he's keenly interested in the future of digital health, car connectivity, and 5G. Beyond his professional pursuits, Daniel finds balance in travel, reading, and exploring new tech innovations, while contemplating the ethical and privacy implications of our digital future.