SALT LAKE CITY — The next billion phone users across the world aren’t using your traditional smartphones. Seriously. Forget the iPhone and Android devices. The hottest phone on the market right now is not even a smartphone, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The newest and coolest phones on the market apparently only cost close to $25, and they’re selling wildly in countries like India, the Ivory Coast and Indonesia, among others.

  • “Smart feature phones, as they are known, are one of the mobile-phone industry’s fastest-growing and least-known segments, providing a simple way for some of the world’s poorest people to enter the internet economy,” according to The Wall Street Journal.
  • “Smart feature phones aren’t only inexpensive, but they also have physical keypads that are less intimidating than touch screens for those new to the technology. Meanwhile, their batteries last for days, a bonus in places where electricity is unreliable,” WSJ reports.

Yes, but: “There is a trade-off for the low price,” according to the Wall Street Journal. “The devices typically have slower and less powerful components, only basic cameras and their screens are usually just a few inches in size, factors that contribute to their longer battery life. There also are fewer apps available for smart feature phones.”

View Comments

Context: These new phones are becoming popular as the traditional smartphone is seeing a decline. As the Associated Press reports, Apple’s shares dropped 10% in early January, a sign that its strategy of selling smartphones is waning. In fact, reports show smartphone sales have dropped across the world.

  • “The smartphone industry is going through significant headwinds,” analyst Dan Ives of the research firm Wedbush Securities told the Associated Press. “Smartphone makers used to be like teenagers, and the industry was on fire. Now it feels like they’re more like senior citizens in terms of maturity.”
Join the Conversation
Looking for comments?
Find comments in their new home! Click the buttons at the top or within the article to view them — or use the button below for quick access.