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{{short description|Mobile phone that is not a smartphone}}
⚫ ]
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], an advanced feature phone]]
A '''feature phone''' (also spelled '''featurephone'''), '''brick phone''', or '''dumbphone''',<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-68465727|accessdate=18 July 2024|date=4 March 2024|title=School phone ban: Blandford pupils to be offered 'brick phones'|website=BBC News|last=Almroth-Wright|first=Indy}}</ref> is a ] that retains the ] of earlier generations{{When|date=November 2024|reason=which earlier generations, and earlier than when? mobile phones have existed since the 1970s}} of mobile telephones, typically with press-button based inputs and a small non-touch display. Feature phones tend to use an ] with a small and simple ], unlike large and complex ]s on ]s.


The functions of feature phones are limited compared to smartphones. Following the rise of smartphones, the feature phone has sometimes been referred to as a dumbphone.<ref name="tny-dumbphone-boom" /> However, some feature phones can provide functions found in smartphones, including internet capabilities, apps, and ].
A '''feature phone''' is a ] which is priced at the mid-range in a wireless provider's hardware lineup.{{dubious|Needs Work|date=July 2013}} The word "feature phone" is a ]. It is intended for customers who want a moderately priced and multipurpose phone without the expense of a high-end ]. A feature phone has additional functions over and above a basic ] which is only capable of voice calling and text messaging. Due to the quick progression in capabilities, current mid-range devices in a carrier's lineup today may be more advanced than previous high-end devices just a few years ago.<ref></ref><ref name="forbes-twoweeks">Todd Hixon, , ''Forbes'', November 13, 2012</ref>


==Definition==
Feature phones may often be marketed by certain carriers under various terms. ] labels them as "smartphone lite".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rogers.com/web/link/wirelessBuyFlow?forwardTo=PhoneThenPlan&productType=normal&N=52+11+4294926992 |title=Cell Phones, Smartphones, and Prepaid Phones}}</ref>
Prior to the popularity of ]s, the term 'feature phone' was often used on high-end mobile telephones with assorted functions for retail customers, developed at the advent of ] networks, which allowed sufficient ] for these capabilities.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Miller|first=Hugo|date=11 January 2013|url=http://www.TheSpec.com/news/business/article/868294--rim-says-150-carriers-keep-it-from-palm-s-fate-toronto|title=RIM says 150 carriers keep it from Palm's fate (Toronto)|website=TheSpec.com|publisher=] – ]|access-date=|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117045934/http://www.thespec.com/news/business/article/868294--rim-says-150-carriers-keep-it-from-palm-s-fate-toronto|archive-date=17 January 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>


Depending on extent of functionality, feature phones may have many of the capabilities of a smartphone, within certain cases.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Hardy|first=Ed|date=25 March 2003|url=http://www.Brighthand.com/article/Study_Says_Smartphones_Will_Outsell_Handhelds/|title=Study says: smartphones will outsell handhelds this year|website=Brighthand.com|publisher=Brighthand – ]|access-date=13 February 2021|quote=The ]an analyst firm ] has released a study that predicts shipments of smartphones will exceed those of handhelds in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (]) region for the first time in 2003. It says about 3.3 million smartphones will be sold in the region this year, as opposed to 2.8 million handhelds.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910033321/http://www.Brighthand.com/news/study-says-smartphones-will-outsell-handhelds-this-year/|archive-date=10 September 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>
⚫ ==History==
{{globalize/USA|date=August 2013}}


The first ] phones and many feature phones had NOR ], from which processor instructions could be executed directly in an execute in place architecture and allowed for short boot times. With smartphones, NAND flash memory was adopted as it has larger storage capacities and lower costs, but causes longer boot times because instructions cannot be executed from it directly, and must be copied to RAM first before execution.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vaq11vKwo_kC&dq=nand+flash+copy+sram&pg=PA12 | title=Inside NAND Flash Memories | isbn=978-90-481-9431-5 | last1=Micheloni | first1=Rino | last2=Crippa | first2=Luca | last3=Marelli | first3=Alessia | date=27 July 2010 | publisher=Springer }}</ref>
The distinct category of feature phones is by contrast with smart phones, and today refers primarily to mid-range phones, between basic phones on the low end (few or no features beyond basic dialing and messaging) and smart phones on the high end. Prior to the popularity of smart phones, the term may be applied avant la lettre to high-end phones with assorted features. These developed and peaked in popularity during the 2000s, contemporary with 3G networks, which allowed sufficient bandwidth for these features. Since the popularization of smart phones in the late 2000s, feature phones have been replaced at the high end with smart phones, though particular features may be found on either feature phones or smart phones.


==Contemporary usage==
In Japan, mobile phones developed a wide array of ] prior to the development of smart phones. The introduction of smart phones has largely displaced these at the high end, though smart phones for the Japanese market often include features first developed on feature phones. Many of these features were and remain specific to Japan, often requiring network support, and the resulting phones, while dominant in Japan, proved unsuccessful abroad. This lead to the term "]" – specialized development dominant on an island, but not found abroad – and then the term is {{nihongo|Gala-phone|ガラケイ|gara-kei}}, blending with {{nihongo|"mobile phone"|携帯|keitai}}, to refer to Japanese feature phones, by contrast with newer smart phones.
] Olvio E100 feature phone]]
In developed economies, feature phones are primarily specific to ]s, or have become merely a preference; owing to certain feature combinations not available in other devices, such as their affordability, durability, and simplicity.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fowler |first=Geoffrey A. |date=27 April 2016 |url= https://www.WSJ.com/articles/its-ok-not-to-use-a-smartphone-1461780160 |title=It's OK not to use a smartphone |work=The Wall Street Journal |location=New York|access-date=}}</ref>


A well-specified feature phone can be used in industrial environments, and the outdoors, at workplaces that proscribe dedicated cameras, and as an ]. Several models are equipped with hardware functions; such as ] and ], that prevent the device from becoming useless in the event of a major disaster, or entirely obsolete, if and when ] network infrastructure is shut down. Other feature phones are specifically designed for the elderly, and yet others for ].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Hirshfeld|first=Rachel|date=26 March 2012|url=https://www.IsraelNationalNews.com/News/News.aspx/154153|title=Introducing: a 'kosher phone' permitted on shabbat – the Zomet Institute has released a kosher telephone that can be used on Shabbat without breaking the Jewish laws of the day of rest.|website=www.IsraelNationalNews.com|publisher=] – ]|access-date=13 February 2021}}</ref>
⚫ ===Market share===
In Pakistan and other South Asian countries, many mobile phone outlets use feature phones for ], referred to as ].<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.telenor.com.pk/easyload/#:~:text=With%20Telenor's%20easyload%20you%20can,as%20per%20your%20price%20plan. | title=Easyload }}</ref>
⚫ During the mid-2000s, best-selling feature phones such as the fashionable flip-phone ], multimedia ], and the ] not only occupied the mid-range pricing in a wireless provider's lineup, they made up the bulk of retail sales as smartphones from ] and ] were still considered a niche category for business use. Even as late as 2009, smartphone penetration in North America was low.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thespec.com/news/business/article/868294--rim-says-150-carriers-keep-it-from-palm-s-fate-toronto |title=RIM says 150 carriers keep it from Palm's fate |author=Hugo Miller |date=11 January 2013 |publisher=TheSpec}}</ref>


In the late 2010s and early 2020s, multiple new companies were formed specifically to manufacture and sell such phones in North America. These companies reported accelerated growth in 2023 and early 2024, driven by those who find contemporary smartphones too ], including parents worried about their children developing such addictions.<ref name="tny-dumbphone-boom">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/infinite-scroll/the-dumbphone-boom-is-real|title=The Dumbphone Boom is Real|first=Kyle|last=Chayka|magazine=]|date=April 10, 2024|access-date=April 25, 2024}}</ref>
It was in 2009, however, that the ] and ] shifted the smartphone from enterprise to the mass market consumer (at the expense of business-oriented operating systems such as ] and BlackBerry), and since then smartphones have increased their popularity to become the dominant device in the mass market (at least in North America and Western Europe).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.zdnet.com/blog/perlow/in-smartphone-wars-darwinism-triumphs-over-intelligent-design/11516 |title=In Smartphone Wars, Darwinism Triumphs Over Intelligent Design |author=Jason Perlow |date=8 November 2009 |publisher=ZDNet}}</ref> As a result smartphones have enjoyed the largest selection and advertising among carriers, who are devoting less and less store space and marketing to feature phones and dumbphones.<ref name="engadgetoptimus" />


⚫ ==History==
⚫ In 2011, feature phones accounted for 60 percent of the mobile telephones in the ]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/40-percent-of-u-s-mobile-users-own-smartphones-40-percent-are-android/ |title=40 Percent of U.S. Mobile Users Own Smartphones; 40 Percent are Android |author=Don Kellogg |date=1 September 2011 |publisher='']'' | archiveurl = http://www.webcitation.org/6Berfsowg | archivedate = 2012-10-24| deadurl=no}}</ref> and 70 percent of mobile phones sold worldwide.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.zdnet.com/blog/cell-phones/nokias-continued-feature-phone-focus-may-be-one-of-their-smartest-moves/7215 |title=Nokia's continued feature phone focus may be one of their smartest moves}}</ref> It is predicted that by 2013 feature phones' share will drop as smartphones become more popular, as half of all mobile phones will be smartphones.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://allthingsd.com/20120828/half-of-all-mobile-phones-will-be-smartphones-by-2013-two-years-earlier-than-forecast/ |title=Half of All Mobile Phones Will Be Smartphones by 2013, Two Years Earlier Than Forecast |author=Ina Fried |date=28 August 2012 |publisher='']'' }}</ref> For the first time ever, in 2013, smartphones outsold feature phones in the second quarter, according to research firm Gartner.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2573415 |title=Gartner Says Smartphone Sales Grew 46.5 Percent in Second Quarter of 2013 and Exceeded Feature Phone Sales for First Time |author=Rob van der Meulen & Janessa Rivera |date=14 August 2013 }}</ref> Smartphones accounted for 51.8 percent of mobile phone sales in the second quarter of 2013, resulting in smartphone sales surpassing feature phone sales for the first time.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://arstechnica.com/business/2013/08/smartphones-outsell-feature-phones-for-the-first-time-worldwide/ |title=Smartphones Outsell Feature Phones, for the First Time |author=Cyrus Farivar |date=14 August 2013 }}</ref>
⚫ ===Industry trends===
⚫ ]
In developed economies in the mid 2000s to early 2010s, fashion and brand loyalty drove sales, as markets had matured and people moved to their second and third phones. In the United States, technological innovation with regard to expanded functionality was a secondary consideration, as phone designs there centred on miniaturisation.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=http://www.BusinessWeek.com/stories/2008-06-16/the-iphones-impact-on-rivalsbusinessweek-business-news-stock-market-and-financial-advice|title=The iPhone's impact on rivals|magazine=]|date=16 June 2008|access-date=16 August 2013}}</ref><ref name=PixelsTech>{{Cite web|url=http://PixelsTech.net/article/1359363948_Why_does_Symbian_collapse_|title=Why does Symbian collapse?|website=PixelsTech.net|publisher=Pixels Tech|date= |access-date=16 August 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://WashPost.Bloomberg.com/Story?docId=1376-MINFW26JTSEJ01-6588TGRTS2A0543182U6TMUOV|title=Business: Washington Post business page, business news|website=WashPost.Bloomberg.com|publisher=] – ]|date=|access-date=16 August 2013|archive-date=20 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170320232341/http://washpost.bloomberg.com/Story?docId=1376-MINFW26JTSEJ01-6588TGRTS2A0543182U6TMUOV|url-status=dead}}</ref>


Existing feature phone ]s at the time were not designed to handle additional tasks beyond communication and basic functions, and due to the complex bureaucracy and other factors, they never developed a thriving software ecosystem.<ref name=PixelsTech/>
⚫ A survey of 4,001 Canadians by Media Technology Monitor in fall 2012 suggested about 83 per cent of the anglophone population owned a cellphone, up from 80 per cent in 2011 and 74 per cent in 2010. About two thirds of the mobile phone owners polled said they had a smartphone and the other third had feature phones or non-smartphones. According to MTM, non-smartphone users are more likely to be female, older, have a lower income, live in a small community and have less education. The survey found that smartphone owners tend to be male, younger, live in a high-income household with children in the home, and residents of a community of one million or more people. Students also ranked high among smartphone owners.<ref>{{cite web|last=Oliveira |first=Michael |url=http://globalnews.ca/news/526081/smartphones-push-old-flip-phones-to-extinction/ |title=Smartphones push old flip phones to extinction - National |publisher=Globalnews.ca |date=2013-05-01 |accessdate=2013-08-16}}</ref>


By contrast, ] (renamed iOS in 2010) and Android were designed as a robust operating system, embracing third-party software, and having capabilities such as multitasking and graphics capabilities in order to meet future consumer demands.<ref>{{Cite news |url= https://www.TheGlobeAndMail.com/globe-investor/rims-long-road-to-reinvent-the-blackberry/article7901031/ |first=Iain |last=Marlow |title=RIM's long road to reinvent the BlackBerry |work=The Globe and Mail |location= Toronto |date=27 January 2013 |access-date=16 August 2013}}</ref> These platforms also eclipsed the popularity of smartphone platforms historically aimed towards enterprise markets, such as BlackBerry.<ref>{{Cite news|author=Jason Perlow|date=8 November 2009|url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/in-smartphone-wars-darwinism-triumphs-over-intelligent-design/|title=In smartphone wars, Darwinism triumphs over intelligent design|website=www.ZDNet.com|publisher=]|access-date=}}</ref>
According to Gartner in Q2 2013, 225 million smartphones were sold which represented a 46.5 percent gain over the same period in 2012, while 201 million feature phones were sold which was a decrease of 21 percent year over year, the first time that smartphones have outsold feature phones.


There has been an industry shift from feature phones (including low-end smartphones), which rely mainly on volume sales, to high-end flagship smartphones, which also enjoy higher margins, thus manufacturers find high-end smartphones much more lucrative than feature phones.<ref>{{Cite web|author=Ashraf Eassa|date=12 February 2013|url=http://SeekingAlpha.com/article/1173911-nokia-s-lumia-strategy-will-pay-off-nicely|title=Nokia's Lumia strategy will pay off nicely|website=SeekingAlpha.com|publisher=Seeking Alpha|access-date= }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|author=Chris Smith|date=24 December 2012|url=http://www.androidauthority.com/galaxy-s4-spearhead-impressive-samsung-year-company-sell-390-million-smartphones-2013-142489/|title=Galaxy S4 to spearhead impressive Samsung year, company to sell 390 million smartphones in 2013|website=www.AndroidAuthority.com|publisher=]|access-date=|archive-date=28 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210628200329/https://www.androidauthority.com/galaxy-s4-spearhead-impressive-samsung-year-company-sell-390-million-smartphones-2013-142489/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
⚫ ===Industry trends===
Feature phones, despite their additional functions over and above a basic mobile phone or "dumb phone", were still primarily designed as communication devices. Feature phone makers such as ] and ] were enjoying record sales of cell phones based more on fashion and brand rather than technological innovation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2008-06-16/the-iphones-impact-on-rivalsbusinessweek-business-news-stock-market-and-financial-advice |title=The iPhone's Impact on Rivals |publisher=Businessweek |date= |accessdate=2013-08-16}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://pixelstech.net/article/1359363948_Why_does_Symbian_collapse_ |title=Why does Symbian collapse? |publisher=Pixelstech.net |date= |accessdate=2013-08-16}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://washpost.bloomberg.com/Story?docId=1376-MINFW26JTSEJ01-6588TGRTS2A0543182U6TMUOV |title=Business: Washington Post Business Page, Business News |publisher=Washpost.bloomberg.com |date= |accessdate=2013-08-16}}</ref> However, consumer-oriented smartphones such as the ] and those running ] fundamentally changed the industry, with ] proclaiming in 2007 that "the phone was not just a communication tool but a way of life".<ref name="pixelstech1">{{cite web|url=http://pixelstech.net/article/1359363948_Why_does_Symbian_collapse_ |title=Why does Symbian collapse? |publisher=Pixelstech.net |date= |accessdate=2013-08-16}}</ref> Existing feature phone operating systems at the time such as ] were not designed to handle additional tasks beyond communication and basic functions, did not emphasis application developers much, and due to infighting among manufacturers as well as the complex bureaucracy and bloatness of the OS, they never developed a thriving ecosystem like Apple's ] or ]'s ].<ref name="pixelstech1"/> By contrast, ] (renamed iOS in 2010) and ] were designed as a robust OS, embracing third-party apps, and having capabilities such as multitasking and graphics in order to meet future consumer demands.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/rims-long-road-to-reinvent-the-blackberry/article7901031/ |title=RIM's long road to reinvent the BlackBerry |publisher=The Globe and Mail |date= |accessdate=2013-08-16}}</ref>


There has been an industry shift from feature phones (including low-end smartphones), which rely mainly on volume, to high-end flagship smartphones which also enjoy higher margins, thus high-end smartphones are much more lucrative for manufacturers than feature phones.<ref name="lumiastrategy">{{cite web |url=http://seekingalpha.com/article/1173911-nokia-s-lumia-strategy-will-pay-off-nicely |title=Nokia's Lumia Strategy Will Pay Off Nicely |author=Ashraf Eassa |date=12 February 2013 |publisher=Seeking Alpha}}</ref> For instance ]'s operating margins from the ] remain high since these devices have always been sold to carriers at a high enough cost which compels carriers to sell them as smartphones via retail.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.androidauthority.com/galaxy-s4-spearhead-impressive-samsung-year-company-sell-390-million-smartphones-2013-142489/ |title=Galaxy S4 to spearhead impressive Samsung year, company to sell 390 million smartphones in 2013 |author=Chris Smith |date=24 December 2012 |publisher=Android Authority}}</ref> It has also been found that attempting to keep manufacturing prices of feature phones low results in significant sacrifices to performance and usability (the latest OS is often too intensive for cheaper past-generation phone CPUs, such as ] on the ]).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://reviews.cnet.com/smartphones/lg-optimus-l7-unlocked/4505-6452_7-35150774.html |title=LG Optimus L7 Review |date=28 June 2012 |publisher=CNET}}</ref><ref name="engadgetoptimus">{{cite web |url=http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/29/lg-optimus-l7-review/ |title=LG Optimus L7 Review |author=Zachary Lutz |date=29 June 2012 |publisher=Engadget}}</ref> The shift away from feature phones has forced wireless carriers to increase subsidies of handsets, and the high selling prices of flagship smartphones have had a negative effect on the wireless carriers (AT&T Mobility, Verizon, and Sprint) who have seen their EBITDA service margins drop as they sold more smartphones and fewer feature phones.<ref>{{cite web|last=Goldman |first=David |url=http://money.cnn.com/2012/02/08/technology/iphone_carrier_subsidy/index.htm |title=Apple's subsidy makes iPhone a nightmare for carriers - Feb. 8, 2012 |publisher=Money.cnn.com |date=2012-02-08 |accessdate=2013-08-16}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/sprint-nextel-apple-drinks-the-juice/article544696/ |title=Sprint Nextel: Apple drinks the juice |publisher=The Globe and Mail |date= |accessdate=2013-08-16}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Gustin |first=Sam |url=http://business.time.com/2012/02/08/how-apples-iphone-actually-hurts-att-verizon-and-sprint/ |title=How Apple's iPhone Actually Hurts AT&T, Verizon and Sprint &#124; TIME.com |publisher=Business.time.com |date=2012-02-08 |accessdate=2013-08-16}}</ref> Trends have shown that consumers are willing to pay more for smartphones that deliver more features/applications such as 4G LTE and touchscreens, and smartphones have become a part of North American pop culture (while feature phones are no longer "cool"). Though smartphones cost more to produce they deliver high profit margins than feature phones, thus device makers and wireless carriers have shifted towards smartphones. The shift away from feature phones has forced ]s to increase ] of handsets, and the high selling-prices of flagship smartphones have had a negative effect on the mobile network operators, who have seen their ] (EBITDA) margins drop as they sold more smartphones and fewer feature phones. To help make up for this, carriers typically use high-end devices to ] customers onto higher-priced service plans with increased data allotments.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Goldman|first=David|date=8 February 2012|url=https://Money.CNN.com/2012/02/08/technology/iphone_carrier_subsidy/index.htm|title=Apple's subsidy makes iPhone a nightmare for carriers|website=Money.CNN.com|publisher=]|access-date=16 August 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url= https://www.TheGlobeAndMail.com/report-on-business/international-business/sprint-nextel-apple-drinks-the-juice/article544696/ |title=Sprint Nextel: Apple drinks the juice |work=The Globe and Mail |location= Toronto |date=9 February 2012 |access-date=16 August 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Gustin|first=Sam|url=https://Business.Time.com/2012/02/08/how-apples-iphone-actually-hurts-att-verizon-and-sprint/|title=How Apple's iPhone actually hurts AT&T, Verizon and Sprint|magazine=]|date=8 February 2012|access-date=16 August 2013}}</ref> Trends have shown that consumers are willing to pay more for smartphones that include newer features and technology, and that smartphones were considered to be more relevant in present-day ] than feature phones.<ref name=eWeek>{{Cite magazine|last=Reisinger|first=Don|date=15 August 2013|url=https://www.eWeek.com/mobile/slideshows/smartphones-sales-finally-overtake-feature-phones-10-reasons-why/|title=Smartphones sales finally overtake feature phones: 10 reasons why|website=www.eWeek.com|publisher=]|access-date= }}</ref>


⚫ ===Market share===
That being said, as of Q1 2012, only Apple and ] have been successful in the high-end smartphone market while all other manufacturers have broke even or lost money. ]'s turnaround effort with the ] series of ] devices is centered upon feature phones (inexpensive but fully featured smartphones that support the same OS as the flagship smartphones) that will sell in volumes to reasonably support the company's smartphone business as well as raise brand awareness, whereas high-end flagship smartphones will generate the profits but not be the main focus as Apple's ] (which does not compete in the feature phone category).<ref name="lumiastrategy" /> At the moment, most of the focus is on high-end flagship smartphones, however Nokia has been trying to create feature phones with "smartphone functionality".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://seekingalpha.com/article/1398901-can-nokia-revitalize-feature-phones-with-new-asha-launches?source=google_news |title=Nokia Corporation (ADR) (NOK): Can Nokia Revitalize Feature Phones With New Asha Launches? |publisher=Seeking Alpha |date=2013-05-03 |accessdate=2013-08-16}}</ref> An analyst noted Windows Phone has been successfully able to attract first-time smartphone buyers upgrading from a feature phone (52% of Windows Phone users had previously owned a feature phone), and as of 2013 over half of the US population still used feature phones.
]
⚫ During the mid-2000s, best-selling feature phones such as the fashionable flip-phone ], multimedia ], and the ] not only occupied the mid-range pricing in a wireless provider's range, they made up the bulk of retail sales as smartphones from ] and ] were still considered a niche category for business use. Even as late as 2009, smartphone penetration in North America was low.<ref>{{Cite web|author=Hugo Miller|date=11 January 2013|url=http://www.TheSpec.com/news/business/article/868294--rim-says-150-carriers-keep-it-from-palm-s-fate-toronto|title=RIM says 150 carriers keep it from Palm's fate|website=TheSpec.com|publisher=The Spec|access-date=|archive-date=17 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117045934/http://www.thespec.com/news/business/article/868294--rim-says-150-carriers-keep-it-from-palm-s-fate-toronto|url-status=dead}}</ref>


⚫ In 2011, feature phones accounted for 60&nbsp;percent of the mobile telephones in the ],<ref>{{Cite web|author=Don Kellogg|date=1 September 2011|url=http://blog.Nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/40-percent-of-u-s-mobile-users-own-smartphones-40-percent-are-android/|title=40 percent of U.S. mobile users own smartphones; 40 percent are Android|website=blog.Nielsen.com|publisher=]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021195835/http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/40-percent-of-u-s-mobile-users-own-smartphones-40-percent-are-android/|archive-date=21 October 2012|url-status=dead|access-date=2 September 2011}}</ref> and 70&nbsp;percent of mobile phones sold worldwide.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ZDNet.com/blog/cell-phones/nokias-continued-feature-phone-focus-may-be-one-of-their-smartest-moves/7215|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120202234544/http://www.zdnet.com/blog/cell-phones/nokias-continued-feature-phone-focus-may-be-one-of-their-smartest-moves/7215|url-status=dead|archive-date=2 February 2012|title=Nokia's continued feature phone focus may be one of their smartest moves|website=www.ZDNet.com|publisher=]|date= |access-date= }}</ref> According to ] in Q2 2013, 225&nbsp;million smartphones were sold worldwide which represented a 46.5&nbsp;percent gain over the same period in 2012, while 210&nbsp;million feature phones were sold, which was a decrease of 21&nbsp;percent year over year, the first time that smartphones have outsold feature phones.<ref name=eWeek/><ref name="auto">{{Cite web|author=Rob van der Meulen & Janessa Rivera|date=14 August 2013|url=http://www.Gartner.com/newsroom/id/2573415|title=Gartner says smartphone sales grew 46.5 percent in second quarter of 2013 and exceeded feature phone sales for first time|website=www.Gartner.com|publisher=]|access-date= }}</ref> Smartphones accounted for 51.8&nbsp;percent of mobile phone sales in the second quarter of 2013, resulting in smartphone sales surpassing feature phone sales for the first time.<ref>{{Cite web|author=Cyrus Farivar|date=14 August 2013|url=https://arstechnica.com/business/2013/08/smartphones-outsell-feature-phones-for-the-first-time-worldwide/|title=Smartphones outsell feature phones, for the first time|website=arstechnica.com|publisher= |access-date=}}</ref>
==Difference between smartphone and feature phone==
Whilst a feature phone is a low-end device and a smartphone a high-end one, there is no standard way of distinguishing them.<ref name=phonescoop>{{cite web |url=http://www.phonescoop.com/glossary/term.php?gid=310 |title=Feature Phone |date= |publisher=''Phone Scoop'' |accessdate=9 May 2010| archiveurl = http://www.webcitation.org/67Lc0pZrU | archivedate = 2012-05-01| deadurl=no}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.zdnet.com/blog/gadgetreviews/smartphone-vs-feature-phone-arms-race-heats-up-which-did-you-buy/6836 |title=Smartphone vs. feature phone arms race heats up; which did you buy? |author=Andrew Nusca |date=20 August 2009 |publisher=] }}</ref> Smartphone and feature phone are not mutually exclusive categories.<ref></ref> A complication in distinguishing between smartphones and feature phones is that over time the capabilities of new models of feature phones can increase to exceed those of phones that had been promoted as smartphones in the past. Because technology changes rapidly, what was a smartphone ten years ago may be considered only a feature phone today. For example, today's feature phones typically also serve as a ] (PDA) and ] and have capabilities such as ]s, ], ] navigation, ], and ] access.


⚫ A survey of 4,001 Canadians by ] (MTM) in late 2012 suggested about 83 percent of the anglophone population owned a cellphone, up from 80&nbsp;percent in 2011 and 74&nbsp;percent in 2010. About two thirds of the mobile phone owners polled said they had a smartphone, and the other third had feature phones or non-smartphones. According to MTM, non-smartphone users are more likely to be female, older, have a lower income, live in a small community, and have less education. The survey found that smartphone owners tend to be male, younger, live in a high-income household with children in the home, and residents of a community of one million or more people. Students also ranked high among smartphone owners.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Oliveira|first=Michael|date=1 May 2013|url=http://GlobalNews.ca/news/526081/smartphones-push-old-flip-phones-to-extinction/|title=Smartphones push old flip phones to extinction|website=GlobalNews.ca|publisher=]|access-date=16 August 2013}}</ref>
Back in 2009, a significant difference between smartphones and feature phones is that the advanced ]s (APIs) on smartphones for running third-party applications<ref name="PCmag">{{cite news |url=http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia_term/0,2542,t=Smartphone&i=51537,00.asp |title=Smartphone definition from PC Magazine Encyclopedia |work=] |accessdate=2011-12-15| archiveurl = http://www.webcitation.org/5wqZMtW4B | archivedate = 2011-02-28| deadurl=no}}</ref> can allow those applications to have better integration with the phone's OS and hardware than is typical with feature phones.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cnet.com/8301-17918_1-10461614-85.html |title=The 411: Feature phones vs. smartphones |author=Nicole Lee |date=1 March 2010 |publisher=CNet}}</ref> In comparison, feature phones more commonly run on proprietary ], with third-party software support through platforms such as ] or ].<ref name="phonescoop-smartphone">{{cite web |url=http://www.phonescoop.com/glossary/term.php?gid=131 |title=Smartphone |date= |publisher=''Phone Scoop'' |accessdate=2011-12-15}}</ref> It should be noted, though, that many of these proprietary ]s, such as ] (], ] and ]), ] (] and ]) and ] (Japanese only such as ], ] etc.), which were based on ], were gradually phased out in 2009-11. During that period the manufacturers shifted their lineups, usually the high-end handsets first then followed by the mid-range and low-end offerings, to advanced APIs such as ] and ].


===Japan===
As of 2010-present, while advanced APIs appear on smartphones first, they are gradually moving to feature phones; for instance as of 2012 smartphones (especially flagship phones) are often the first to run the latest OS version (i.e. the ] which ships with ] 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, while the midrange ] has Android 2.3 Gingerbread).<ref></ref> Often OS is no longer a distinguishing factor, such as the Nokia ] smartphone and ] feature phone, both of which run ], however the Lumia 900 has among other things a better camera and a larger screen. Another example is the ] and ], the flagship and upper-middle offerings of HTC's One series lineup, and the ]; all three ship with ] 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, however the One X and One S have dual-core processors which allows them to run future Android updates whereas the One V is a single-core which will be unlikely to enjoy an OS update. The only advanced smartphone OS that has never appeared on a feature phone so far is ] ], as all of the company's handset releases using iOS (the ]) have always commanded smartphone (premium) pricing, and as Apple has not licensed iOS out to other handset manufacturers.
] diverged from those used elsewhere, with carriers and devices often implementing advanced features; such as ]'s ] platform for mobile internet in 1999, ]s, ], and ]; that were not yet widely used, or even adopted, outside of Japan. This divergence has been cited as an example of ]; as a result, these feature phones are retroactively referred to as a {{nihongo|'gala-phone'|ガラケー|gara-kei}}, blending with {{nihongo|'mobile phone'|携帯|keitai}}. While smartphones have gained popularity (and implement features introduced on them), many gala-phones are still commonly used,{{when|date=January 2025}} citing preferences for the devices and their durability over smartphones.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Jargon watch|url=https://www.Wired.com/magazine/2009/10/st_jw/|quote=Galápagos syndrome n. The scourge of Japanese mobile companies, whose superadvanced 3G handsets won't work on foreign cell networks. It's named for the birds of the Galápagos, whose specialized beaks don't cut it on the mainland.|website=www.Wired.com|publisher=]|date=19 October 2009|access-date=24 June 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|first=Devin|last=Stewart|author-link=Devin Stewart|date=29 April 2010|title=Slowing Japan's Galapagos syndrome|url=http://www.HuffingtonPost.com/devin-stewart/slowing-japans-galapagos_b_557446.html|quote='Galapagos syndrome', a phrase originally coined to describe Japanese cell phones that were so advanced they had little in common with devices used in the rest of the world, could potentially spread to other parts of society. Indeed signs suggest it is happening already.|website=www.HuffingtonPost.com|publisher=]|access-date=24 June 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Adelstein|first=Jake|date=5 March 2015|url=https://www.Forbes.com/sites/jadelstein/2015/03/05/in-japan-people-are-flipping-out-over-the-flip-phone-galapagos-phone-whats-old-is-new-again/|title=In Japan, people are flipping out over the flip-phone (Galapagos phone): what's old is new again|work=]|access-date=22 April 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Tabuchi|first=Hiroko|author-link=Hiroko Tabuchi|date=19 July 2009|url=https://www.NYTimes.com/2009/07/20/technology/20cell.html|title=Why Japan's smartphones haven't gone global|website=]|access-date=22 April 2019|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blogs.WSJ.com/japanrealtime/2013/12/17/japan-as-galapagos-again-now-its-the-cars/|title=Japan as Galápagos again – now it's the cars|last=Takahashi|first=Yoshio|date=17 December 2013|website=blogs.WSJ.com|publisher=]|access-date=22 April 2019}}</ref>


]s oriented towards smartphones have seen significant growth and revenue in Japan, even though there were three times fewer smartphone users in the country than in the United States as of 2017.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.GamesIndustry.biz/articles/2017-10-17-japanese-mobile-market-outgrows-us-three-years-in-a-row|title=Japanese mobile market outgrows US three years in a row|website=www.GamesIndustry.biz|date=17 October 2017 |publisher= |access-date=22 April 2019}}</ref>
The price difference between a smartphone and feature phone remains one of the widely used attributes to distinguish the two devices. As of March 2012, the big three Canadian cellular service providers (Rogers, Bell, Telus) offer the choice of purchasing smartphone upfront for $450–650 CAD on "no term" (month-by-month), or by signing 3-year voice and data contract to waive most of the handset purchase cost (there are no waivers for a voice-only plan). The no term price for a feature phone, by contrast, is typically half or even less than that of a smartphone (topping out at $300 CAD), and this cost can be waived with a 3-year voice-only plan.<ref></ref><ref></ref><ref>http://www.rogers.com/web/link/wirelessBuyFlow?forwardTo=PhoneThenPlan&productType=normal</ref> Below feature phones are basic mobile phones or "dumb phones" which are intended for pay-as-you-go customers and often retail for $0.<ref name="forbes-twoweeks" /> Smartphones, while improving their features and capabilities, however, have always maintained their price advantage over feature phones.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.techvibes.com/blog/canadas-wireless-leaders-form-excessively-lucrative-oligopoly-reap-world-high-profits |title=Canada's wireless leaders form excessively lucrative oligopoly, reap world-high profits |author=Knowlton Thomas |date=19 July 2010 |publisher=TechVibes}}</ref> Pricing structure is still a grey area, for instance at ], the ] was originally released with smartphone pricing in June 2012, however poor sales led to that device being demoted to feature phone pricing by December 2012 of that year. By contrast, the ] 8&nbsp;GB which debuted in mid-2010 is still sold as a smartphone by Rogers as of December 2012 (which reflects ]'s success in keeping the price of its phones constant).

==Platforms==
] was a popular software platform for feature phones in the 2000s, with 3 billion devices supporting it as of 2013.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.java.com/en/about/ |title=Learn about Java Technology |access-date=15 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130308080819/http://www.java.com/en/about/ |archive-date=8 March 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Other platforms which saw significant adoption at this time include Qualcomm's ], abbreviated as BREW, and Adobe's ].

] developed an embedded operating system named ] which is based on ].<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://lazure2.wordpress.com/tag/maui-runtime-environment/ | title=MAUI Runtime Environment }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://MRE.MediaTek.com/en/start/what|title=What is MRE?|website=MRE.MediaTek.com|publisher=]|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151104094204/http://mre.mediatek.com/en/start/what|archive-date=4 November 2015|access-date=26 May 2019}}</ref> Additionally, many phones could access the internet using ]. ] can be used as an operating system for feature phones that supports certain apps written using HTML5.


==References== ==References==
{{Reflist|32em}}
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}


== External links == ==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline|Mobile phones}} * {{Commons-inline|Mobile phone}}


{{Mobile phones}} {{Mobile phones}}
{{Computer sizes}}
{{Portal bar|Telephones|Telecommunication|Technology}}


⚫ ]
] ]
⚫ ]

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The Nokia 3310 (2017 version), an advanced feature phone

A feature phone (also spelled featurephone), brick phone, or dumbphone, is a mobile phone that retains the form factor of earlier generations of mobile telephones, typically with press-button based inputs and a small non-touch display. Feature phones tend to use an embedded operating system with a small and simple graphical user interface, unlike large and complex mobile operating systems on smartphones.

The functions of feature phones are limited compared to smartphones. Following the rise of smartphones, the feature phone has sometimes been referred to as a dumbphone. However, some feature phones can provide functions found in smartphones, including internet capabilities, apps, and mobile games.

Definition

Prior to the popularity of smartphones, the term 'feature phone' was often used on high-end mobile telephones with assorted functions for retail customers, developed at the advent of 3G networks, which allowed sufficient bandwidth for these capabilities.

Depending on extent of functionality, feature phones may have many of the capabilities of a smartphone, within certain cases.

The first GSM phones and many feature phones had NOR flash memory, from which processor instructions could be executed directly in an execute in place architecture and allowed for short boot times. With smartphones, NAND flash memory was adopted as it has larger storage capacities and lower costs, but causes longer boot times because instructions cannot be executed from it directly, and must be copied to RAM first before execution.

Contemporary usage

A Walton Olvio E100 feature phone

In developed economies, feature phones are primarily specific to niche markets, or have become merely a preference; owing to certain feature combinations not available in other devices, such as their affordability, durability, and simplicity.

A well-specified feature phone can be used in industrial environments, and the outdoors, at workplaces that proscribe dedicated cameras, and as an emergency telephone. Several models are equipped with hardware functions; such as FM radio and flashlight, that prevent the device from becoming useless in the event of a major disaster, or entirely obsolete, if and when 2G network infrastructure is shut down. Other feature phones are specifically designed for the elderly, and yet others for religious purposes. In Pakistan and other South Asian countries, many mobile phone outlets use feature phones for balance transfer, referred to as Easyload.

In the late 2010s and early 2020s, multiple new companies were formed specifically to manufacture and sell such phones in North America. These companies reported accelerated growth in 2023 and early 2024, driven by those who find contemporary smartphones too addictive, including parents worried about their children developing such addictions.

History

Industry trends

Nokia feature phones

In developed economies in the mid 2000s to early 2010s, fashion and brand loyalty drove sales, as markets had matured and people moved to their second and third phones. In the United States, technological innovation with regard to expanded functionality was a secondary consideration, as phone designs there centred on miniaturisation.

Existing feature phone operating systems at the time were not designed to handle additional tasks beyond communication and basic functions, and due to the complex bureaucracy and other factors, they never developed a thriving software ecosystem.

By contrast, iPhone OS (renamed iOS in 2010) and Android were designed as a robust operating system, embracing third-party software, and having capabilities such as multitasking and graphics capabilities in order to meet future consumer demands. These platforms also eclipsed the popularity of smartphone platforms historically aimed towards enterprise markets, such as BlackBerry.

There has been an industry shift from feature phones (including low-end smartphones), which rely mainly on volume sales, to high-end flagship smartphones, which also enjoy higher margins, thus manufacturers find high-end smartphones much more lucrative than feature phones.

The shift away from feature phones has forced mobile network operators to increase subsidies of handsets, and the high selling-prices of flagship smartphones have had a negative effect on the mobile network operators, who have seen their earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) margins drop as they sold more smartphones and fewer feature phones. To help make up for this, carriers typically use high-end devices to upsell customers onto higher-priced service plans with increased data allotments. Trends have shown that consumers are willing to pay more for smartphones that include newer features and technology, and that smartphones were considered to be more relevant in present-day popular culture than feature phones.

Market share

Motorola RAZR V3i

During the mid-2000s, best-selling feature phones such as the fashionable flip-phone Motorola Razr, multimedia Sony Ericsson W580i, and the LG Black Label Series not only occupied the mid-range pricing in a wireless provider's range, they made up the bulk of retail sales as smartphones from BlackBerry and Palm were still considered a niche category for business use. Even as late as 2009, smartphone penetration in North America was low.

In 2011, feature phones accounted for 60 percent of the mobile telephones in the United States, and 70 percent of mobile phones sold worldwide. According to Gartner in Q2 2013, 225 million smartphones were sold worldwide which represented a 46.5 percent gain over the same period in 2012, while 210 million feature phones were sold, which was a decrease of 21 percent year over year, the first time that smartphones have outsold feature phones. Smartphones accounted for 51.8 percent of mobile phone sales in the second quarter of 2013, resulting in smartphone sales surpassing feature phone sales for the first time.

A survey of 4,001 Canadians by Media Technology Monitor (MTM) in late 2012 suggested about 83 percent of the anglophone population owned a cellphone, up from 80 percent in 2011 and 74 percent in 2010. About two thirds of the mobile phone owners polled said they had a smartphone, and the other third had feature phones or non-smartphones. According to MTM, non-smartphone users are more likely to be female, older, have a lower income, live in a small community, and have less education. The survey found that smartphone owners tend to be male, younger, live in a high-income household with children in the home, and residents of a community of one million or more people. Students also ranked high among smartphone owners.

Japan

Mobile phones in Japan diverged from those used elsewhere, with carriers and devices often implementing advanced features; such as NTT docomo's i-mode platform for mobile internet in 1999, mobile payments, mobile television, and near field communications; that were not yet widely used, or even adopted, outside of Japan. This divergence has been cited as an example of Galápagos syndrome; as a result, these feature phones are retroactively referred to as a 'gala-phone' (ガラケー, gara-kei), blending with 'mobile phone' (携帯, keitai). While smartphones have gained popularity (and implement features introduced on them), many gala-phones are still commonly used, citing preferences for the devices and their durability over smartphones.

Mobile games oriented towards smartphones have seen significant growth and revenue in Japan, even though there were three times fewer smartphone users in the country than in the United States as of 2017.

Platforms

Java ME was a popular software platform for feature phones in the 2000s, with 3 billion devices supporting it as of 2013. Other platforms which saw significant adoption at this time include Qualcomm's Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless, abbreviated as BREW, and Adobe's Flash Lite.

MediaTek developed an embedded operating system named MAUI Runtime Environment which is based on Nucleus RTOS. Additionally, many phones could access the internet using Wireless Application Protocol. KaiOS can be used as an operating system for feature phones that supports certain apps written using HTML5.

References

  1. Almroth-Wright, Indy (4 March 2024). "School phone ban: Blandford pupils to be offered 'brick phones'". BBC News. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
  2. ^ Chayka, Kyle (10 April 2024). "The Dumbphone Boom is Real". The New Yorker. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
  3. Miller, Hugo (11 January 2013). "RIM says 150 carriers keep it from Palm's fate (Toronto)". TheSpec.com. TheSpec.com – Metroland Media Group Ltd. Archived from the original on 17 January 2013.
  4. Hardy, Ed (25 March 2003). "Study says: smartphones will outsell handhelds this year". Brighthand.com. Brighthand – TechTarget. Archived from the original on 10 September 2015. Retrieved 13 February 2021. The European analyst firm Canalys has released a study that predicts shipments of smartphones will exceed those of handhelds in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region for the first time in 2003. It says about 3.3 million smartphones will be sold in the region this year, as opposed to 2.8 million handhelds.
  5. Micheloni, Rino; Crippa, Luca; Marelli, Alessia (27 July 2010). Inside NAND Flash Memories. Springer. ISBN 978-90-481-9431-5.
  6. Fowler, Geoffrey A. (27 April 2016). "It's OK not to use a smartphone". The Wall Street Journal. New York.
  7. Hirshfeld, Rachel (26 March 2012). "Introducing: a 'kosher phone' permitted on shabbat – the Zomet Institute has released a kosher telephone that can be used on Shabbat without breaking the Jewish laws of the day of rest". www.IsraelNationalNews.com. Israel National News – Arutz Sheva. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  8. "Easyload".
  9. "The iPhone's impact on rivals". Business Week. 16 June 2008. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  10. ^ "Why does Symbian collapse?". PixelsTech.net. Pixels Tech. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  11. "Business: Washington Post business page, business news". WashPost.Bloomberg.com. The Washington Post – Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 20 March 2017. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  12. Marlow, Iain (27 January 2013). "RIM's long road to reinvent the BlackBerry". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  13. Jason Perlow (8 November 2009). "In smartphone wars, Darwinism triumphs over intelligent design". www.ZDNet.com. ZDNet.
  14. Ashraf Eassa (12 February 2013). "Nokia's Lumia strategy will pay off nicely". SeekingAlpha.com. Seeking Alpha.
  15. Chris Smith (24 December 2012). "Galaxy S4 to spearhead impressive Samsung year, company to sell 390 million smartphones in 2013". www.AndroidAuthority.com. Android Authority. Archived from the original on 28 June 2021.
  16. Goldman, David (8 February 2012). "Apple's subsidy makes iPhone a nightmare for carriers". Money.CNN.com. CNN Money. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  17. "Sprint Nextel: Apple drinks the juice". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. 9 February 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  18. Gustin, Sam (8 February 2012). "How Apple's iPhone actually hurts AT&T, Verizon and Sprint". Time. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  19. ^ Reisinger, Don (15 August 2013). "Smartphones sales finally overtake feature phones: 10 reasons why". www.eWeek.com. eWeek.
  20. Hugo Miller (11 January 2013). "RIM says 150 carriers keep it from Palm's fate". TheSpec.com. The Spec. Archived from the original on 17 January 2013.
  21. Don Kellogg (1 September 2011). "40 percent of U.S. mobile users own smartphones; 40 percent are Android". blog.Nielsen.com. Nielsen Company. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 2 September 2011.
  22. "Nokia's continued feature phone focus may be one of their smartest moves". www.ZDNet.com. ZDNet. Archived from the original on 2 February 2012.
  23. Rob van der Meulen & Janessa Rivera (14 August 2013). "Gartner says smartphone sales grew 46.5 percent in second quarter of 2013 and exceeded feature phone sales for first time". www.Gartner.com. Gartner.
  24. Cyrus Farivar (14 August 2013). "Smartphones outsell feature phones, for the first time". arstechnica.com.
  25. Oliveira, Michael (1 May 2013). "Smartphones push old flip phones to extinction". GlobalNews.ca. Global News Canada. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  26. "Jargon watch". www.Wired.com. Wired. 19 October 2009. Retrieved 24 June 2010. Galápagos syndrome n. The scourge of Japanese mobile companies, whose superadvanced 3G handsets won't work on foreign cell networks. It's named for the birds of the Galápagos, whose specialized beaks don't cut it on the mainland.
  27. Stewart, Devin (29 April 2010). "Slowing Japan's Galapagos syndrome". www.HuffingtonPost.com. Huffington Post. Retrieved 24 June 2010. 'Galapagos syndrome', a phrase originally coined to describe Japanese cell phones that were so advanced they had little in common with devices used in the rest of the world, could potentially spread to other parts of society. Indeed signs suggest it is happening already.
  28. Adelstein, Jake (5 March 2015). "In Japan, people are flipping out over the flip-phone (Galapagos phone): what's old is new again". Forbes. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  29. Tabuchi, Hiroko (19 July 2009). "Why Japan's smartphones haven't gone global". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  30. Takahashi, Yoshio (17 December 2013). "Japan as Galápagos again – now it's the cars". blogs.WSJ.com. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  31. "Japanese mobile market outgrows US three years in a row". www.GamesIndustry.biz. 17 October 2017. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  32. "Learn about Java Technology". Archived from the original on 8 March 2013. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
  33. "MAUI Runtime Environment".
  34. "What is MRE?". MRE.MediaTek.com. MediaTek. Archived from the original on 4 November 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2019.

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