Third Wave Fashion // FEBRUARY 2014 // THE GLOBAL ISSUE | Page 11

what’s the

WORD
“ FE ATU R E

PHON E ”

?

Last year was the first year that sales of
smartphones beat out sales of feature
phones–at 53.6% of the global market.
Of course this means that the market for
smartphones is increasing, but it also helps
us to remember that nearly half of the
globe is still using feature phones. So what
is a feature phone?
To start with chances are that you had a
feature phone up until you got your first
iPhone. Some people call them
“smartphone lite”; they’ve even been called
“dumb phones”.
e measurements are on a spectrum, so
no hard-and-fast rules apply, but generally,
features phones are inexpensive and easier
to use. ey also use (and require) less data,
so they’re a popular choice in developing
countries.  Smartphones have operating
systems (like iOS or Android), and can
generally run third-party apps.
Feature phones can still access the internet,
though, and continue to be very important
in international online commerce.

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