Breakingviews - Brick phones will ring in an unlikely revival

LONDON, Dec 19 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Smartphone makers will soon face an unlikely competitor. Concerns about the impact of social media are driving demand for old-school Nokia brick-like handsets, now known as feature phones. If Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab and Samsung don’t find a way of selling safer versions, they may lose out.

Nokia (NOKIA.HE), opens new tab was once the world’s leading mobile phone maker, with a market share approaching 40% in 2007. But its domination withered away when it failed to produce a hit smartphone of its own. Nowadays, the Finnish company is a provider of telecoms network equipment, like routers and antennae. In 2016, it flogged the rights to make Nokia-branded devices to HMD Global, which now stands to reap the rewards of an unlikely revival.

Kids aren’t necessarily taken with the vintage charm of simpler phones. But their caregivers increasingly recognise they’re less addictive than newer models loaded with social media apps. In a poll of U.S. parents from 2023, 67% said, ...
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