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You have probably heard of how people everywhere are buying smartphones. You may have read reports about how the feature phone is dying and will soon be forgotten. You have listened to pundit after pundit talk about how even a country like Nigeria has achieved a 30% smartphone penetration. The facts have always stared us in the face despite all of these though.
Upper class, middle class people and enthusiasts in big cities like Lagos look around and see smartphones everywhere. Of course, they would. They are surrounded by people like them – all together who make up less than 20% of the country’s population. Elsewhere – in towns and villages across the huge mass of the country and elsewhere in Africa, Asia, and South America – most people are still fingering the lowly feature phone.
However, no matter how much the clear evidence on ground is ignored, statistics cannot be dismissed. If interested in the stats, there are quite a few.
Here are a few statistics about feature phones and smartphones in Africa and around the world
- iTel recently pipped Samsung to become the biggest mobile brand in Africa . iTel achieved the feat by pushing more feature phones than anybody else.
- Counterpoint Research says that smartphone demand in Nigeria dropped by 19% in Q3 2016
- Counterpoint also says that feature phone shipments in Africa surged 32 percent year-over-year in the second quarter of 2016.
- Bloomberg reports that smartphone shipments in Africa declined by 5.2%.
- Over 60% of mobile users in India use feature phones.
- IDC says that the worldwide smartphone market grew 1.1% year over year in 2016 Q3. 1.1 %.
Smartphones Have Hit A Plateau
Smartphone saturation has happened already in most of the developed world where penetration is high. And smartphone saturation is already setting in in many emerging markets but at a much lower point. Economic realities are behind this trend. Future economic realities may change this, but until that happens, the feature phone is alive and well, and it isn’t playing second fiddle to the smartphone on the global stage.
Towards the end of 2016, market analysis and research agencies like IDC, Counterpoint and others had to adjust their expectations and projections for smartphone penetration in many markets including for India (which is growing faster than many other markets).
Chart of smartphone versus feature phone users 2010-2016
You get to read news of how key emerging markets like China, India, Brazil, Nigeria and others have a large number of smartphones. A large number is relative. Penetration is what is important. And because of the large population of these markets, smartphone penetration remains low. Forget the hype: feature phones rule those markets.
With inflation galloping away and some of those markets in recession, smartphone shipment will decline some more. Well, unless someone finds a way to produce smartphones at the cost of feature phones. In the meantime, we are stuck with this situation.
The Feature Phone Will Stay… and Evolve
The truth is that feature phones never went away. And they are gaining more grounds. What’s even better: the feature phone is evolving, but not into the smartphone. Consider Reliance Jio’s move to launch a 4G feature phone. A $20 phone that gives you broadband internet access. Absolutely brilliant.
This is a time when proactive mobile manufacturers, networks, and developers will work on innovative solutions for feature phones. Because, as sure as the sun will rise tomorrow, innovations will come to feature phones. It is a question of who latches on to it and who does not. Wait for it.
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Author:Mister Mobility
Digital Skills and Communication Coach | Mobile Phone Connoisseur since 2001 | Tech Blogging since 2004
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We get so caught up with staying on the cutting edge of mobile technology that we assume everyone knows and understands what a smartphone is and what a feature phone is. But it is a wrong assumption. In this article, I explain the difference between smartphones and feature phones.
What is a smartphone?
A smartphone is a cell phone that has a big screen and advanced functions similar to a personal computer. Those computing functions include an operating system, ability to install and run downloaded apps, email and web browsing. Essentially, a smartphone is a mobile computer.
As such, you can create and edit Office documents and other kinds of documents, edit images and video, read e-books, manage websites and web servers, run accounting software, run health monitors and medical software, and a lot more.
How Convergence Created Smartphones
Smartphones evolved from the marriage of mobile phones (or cell phones in American parlance) and PDAs (personal digital assistants). PDAs were handheld devices that featured a large screen, a QWERTY keyboard or a touchscreen and stylus for text input, personal organizer, web browser, and other computing abilities.
Eventually, manufacturers began to combine telephony into PDAs – or PDA functions into telephones. Operating systems for mobile devices evolved along with that. And so the first smartphones were born. These first smartphones included the Nokia Communicator series and the Sony Ericsson R380 , among others.
Today’s smartphones are mostly classified based on the operating systems that they run – Android OS, iOS, Windows 10 Mobile, etc.
Over 80% of the smartphones in the world today run Android OS. The remaining 20% is largely iOS, with a smattering of smaller platforms that have not gained any significant user base.
What are the most important features of a smartphone?
As the world of mobile phones has evolved over the years, the most important features of a smartphone have evolved too. In 2020, a big touchscreen is probably the most important distinguishing and most distinct feature of a smartphone.
Following that is access to a wide range of apps. Without access to the most popular apps, a smartphone is less attractive to modern users. We see how the US government ban against Huawei, leading to loss of access to Google apps and services has affected sales of Huawei phones. People want access to those apps and services.
Another important feature of modern smartphones is the camera. Everyone and their dog takes photos and selfies these days, especially for sharing on social networks. As such, a great camera i one of the most important features of modern smartphones.
What are the features of a good smartphone?
A good smartphone is one that has a good quality display, great processing power, plenty of RAM for launching and switching between apps, plenty of storage space, solid Internet connectivity, access to a wide variety of apps via an app store, a capable web browser, and a great camera.
Which smartphone features use the most power?
Because the display of modern smartphone is where all the interactions happen, it is the single largest consumer of power in the modern smartphone. The larger the display and the higher resolution it has (density of pixels), the more power it consumes. The more extra functions it supports, the more power it consumes.
Other smartphone features that use up a lot of power include the camera and games. Some apps that run in the background all the time can also be huge consumers of power.
What is a feature phone vs a smartphone?
Feature phones are basic cell phones
A feature phone is a type of mobile or cell phone that does not have some of the main characteristics of a smartphone. Feature phones can make and receive calls, send text messages and provide some of the advanced features found on a smartphone.
As such, a feature phone can be described as a basic cell phone with a much smaller screen, more limited text entry mechanism (usually an alpha-numeric keyboard), and much more limited computing capabilities than a smartphone. A feature phone runs on proprietary firmware, with third-party software support through a platform like Java ME. A feature phone may or may not include internet capabilities. Where internet capabilities is available, the features are very basic – email client and web browser with limited capabilities.
Feature phones often provide a basic calendar, media player, alarm, and a few others. As mentioned before, difference between smartphones and feature phones is that the range of activities that are possible on a feature phone is much more limited than what obtains on a smartphone.
Mobile phone manufacturers that make feature phones include Nokia, TECNO, itel, ZTE, among others.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of smartphones?
Smartphones keep you connected all the time, as long as you
you are within network coverage area or have access to WiFi. They allow you carry out many computing tasks on the go without the need for a laptop or desktop. Those activities include Word processing, Web browsing, email, social networking, image and video editing, music and video playback, etc.
However, the biggest disadvantage of modern smartphones is the invasion of the privacy of users. A smartphone – whether it is an iPhone or an Android phone, constantly tracks your location and movement and transmits this data to remote servers. All smartphones from mainstream manufacturers do this. It also scans through your Contacts, emails, text messages, calendars and more and transmits many of those data to remote servers for various uses.
While some data is used to make your smartphone a more personalized experience for you, there continue to be concerns about how such information can be used in damaging ways. This is the greatest disadvantage of owning a smartphone. And this is why people who do not want to open themselves up this way stay away from smartphones and use dumb phones – feature phones without location tracking and Internet access.
What is a Smart Feature Phone?
The emergence of a new category of cell phones called smart feature phones has further blurred the lines. A smart feature phone is a basic cell phone that has some of the qualities of a smartphone. It has an operating system that allows the installation of 3rd party apps, and it has an app store. See? Simply put, a smart feature phone is a hybrid between a smartphone and a feature phone.
Are there any differences difference between smartphones and this new hybrids? Yes; there are. Smartphones have bigger screens, have more powerful processors, and run more advanced apps. Smart feature phones, on the other hand, have small screens and are able to run on very low processors and RAM.
KaiOS is the first smart feature phone OS, and it has gained serious popularity since its debut. As a matter of fact, it is the world’s 3rd largest mobile OS by market share now in 2019. Many KaiOS phones offer 4G LTE Internet connectivity and have Wi-Fi hotspot feature.
Can you get a phone without Internet? Is there a phone that just calls and texts?
Modern smartphones and smart feature phones are Internet-enabled by default. Even many feature phones now include some basic form of Internet access, usually limited to GPRS or EDGE. However, there are some very basic feature phones that are not equipped with any form of Internet connectivity. They offer just voice calls and SMS – and sometimes also have a flash light, calculator, and the like.
So, yes; there are phones that just handle calls and texts. They are called dumb phones. Such phones exist in the market and are usually very cheap.
In Summary
So, feature phones are basic cell phones, smart feature phones are basic phones with some advanced features, while smartphones are basically handheld computers. The difference between smartphones and feature phones have been further blurred with the creation of a new category of hybrids called smart feature phones.
There you have it. Hopefully, this article helps you better understand the differences between smartphones and feature phones.
Related Resources
Facts & Figures: The feature phone is evolving, not dying.
All about KaiOS .
Google invests in KaiOS .
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Author:Mister Mobility
Digital Skills and Communication Coach | Mobile Phone Connoisseur since 2001 | Tech Blogging since 2004
