Before the popularity of smart phones, the world was basically dominated by flip phones. Flip phones were a mobile phone style favored by Asians, especially Japanese. In the years when mobile phones first became popular, people liked to use them. For flip phones, the moment you flip and buckle the cover, there is not only a crisp sound, but also a subtle and elegant opening. This attracts the attention of others, digs, this person is using a mobile phone, and then a series of followers follow suit.
There are many flip phones in Japan, which are due to design concepts and the need for operational content. In terms of design, Japanese people are exactly the opposite of tall European and American people. They don't care about the size of mobile phones, but pursue operation and display effects. Flip phones have large screens and keyboards, which meet their needs. Everyone who has used it should know that when smartphones and other devices are desperately pursuing small size, the buttons feel worse than the last. On the other hand, Japanese mobile phones look so big at first glance, but they feel extremely comfortable in the hand.
In terms of application, Japanese mobile phone screens are always the best, including area, refresh speed, color, etc. Because they want to read comics, watch TV, and play games. Because Japan’s communications market is closed, we don’t understand it. In fact, our current online applications are not as good as those in Japan many years ago. Not to mention online games, mobile TVs are very popular in Japan. How can you watch them on a screen as small as a candy bar? The flip cover can also rotate the screen to view sideways, which is very convenient.
In addition, this is a psychological drive to pay more attention to privacy. Because the moment you close the cover, only the outer shell of the phone is visible. Just like an introvert, the exterior hides what’s going on inside. -As far as the phone itself is concerned, the flip cover is indeed more practical because the position of the earpiece and microphone are more reasonable. Of course, in terms of functionality, today’s touchscreen phones are more powerful.
In fact, flip phones are no longer popular in Japan. iOS and Android are now evenly matched, with Android slightly lagging behind. To put it bluntly, flip phones are just a trend caused by Japan's closed mobile phone market in the past. After the iPhone entered Japan, the popularity of flip phones was long gone.
Because the Japanese can’t live without a lid, they have to open the lid to dry from time to time!
There are so many reasons why Japanese people like flip phones, and I only found out today
The simplicity of the candy bar machine represented the aesthetic consistency of ordinary people in the past and now, but There is a country that cannot let go of its love for flip phones. Maybe you know who I’m talking about – yes! It’s Japan. During the golden development period of smartphones, Japan still has many clamshell models on the market for you to choose from.
Japan’s love for clamshell models still makes people wonder. Is it a retro idea? Or do you have a different idea and want a unique smartphone? Anyway, no specific investigation agency can figure it out. But you don’t have to think that business phones are just rubbish or the tomes of the past. You may even think that business phones can’t keep up with the times and lag behind in terms of social application experience and mobile phone performance.
Nowadays, a few manufacturers are still willing to overthrow flip phones, which include several brands: Samsung, Philips, Sony, etc. This niche market forces flip phones to also be classified as smart phones. However, The front panel of a flip phone is not just a decoration. Do you still remember the double-sided smartphone that the Russian president brought to China? Although it is a candy bar phone, it is not as flavorful as an ordinary flip phone.
Some netizens on Zhihu asked some random Japanese people why they like flip phones. There are many reasons, which can be summarized as follows
1. Not easy to break
Is a flip phone not easy to break? You should be able to understand this if you think about it.
Today's popular business mobile phones on the market all have both internal and external screens, and they are all touch screens. It's not like a candy bar phone. There are many cases where the screen is damaged when you accidentally drop it, leading to the end of the phone's life, but flip phones are different. Having a dual screen saves your life, not to mention that you are less likely to drop it - after all, the structures of flip phones and candy bar phones are different. Many times, it will buffer other parts of the entire machine.
Therefore, when the Japanese say that flip phones have a longer lifespan than candy bar phones, they probably have nothing to do with it.
2. The "click" sound when flipping the cover sounds very cool
Just like this Philips V800, in many old or Japanese movies we have watched, When a businessman's cell phone rings, he takes out his flip phone and "clicks" to answer it. That look is really cool, isn’t it?
3. The flip phone design is beautiful but not homogeneous
The Japanese believe that today’s flip phones are dual-screen designs, and the inner and outer screens are cool to use. And like this V800, it only looks 3.7 inches, but when in use, both the external and internal screens can be operated; after closing the cover, it becomes a machine that is less than 4 inches in size, making it easy for men and women to put it in their pockets. , and there is absolutely no obstacle to one-handed operation.
Business-style and meticulously detailed design, today’s flip phones not only have unique appearance and structural design, but more importantly, they have many advantages over candy bar phones in terms of mobile phone design style. street. Look at the camera design on the back? Look at the grip?
4. Folding culture
Japan respects some inherited habits of nature, such as folding culture.
Maybe Chinese people don’t pay much attention to this thing, but the convenience of folding culture such as clothes, wallets, umbrellas and folding bicycles has been proven by history and is still used today. It can be seen that it does have a side worth spreading, and the same goes for flip phones, which are also willing to fold culture...
There are also replaceable batteries, retro style, etc.
Some people say that the retro trend It doesn’t matter if you appear in any industry or anywhere, but if you appear in consumer digital, is it just a hooligan? Is this true? Don't look down on the Japanese. There must be a reason why the Japanese are keen on this kind of clamshell phone. This is a continuation of the classic. The steady, elegant and exquisite clamshell phone continues through the perfect integration with smartphones. It rejects the need for homogeneity and adapts to today's social life.
If you are a Japanese friend, you will find that Japanese private cars are very mini, very economical and ordinary, and there are no luxury cars or luxury cars.
So this question actually represents a consumption habit and concept of the Japanese public: as long as it works!
Indeed, online development in Japan is far inferior to that in China. Many online stores are still at the promotional level and are far from transactional.
I have worked in Japan for more than 6 years and have been dealing with Japanese people for more than ten years. I have some understanding of the mobile phones used by Japanese people. There are many reasons for this. Speaking of the mobile phone industry, it is really a big failure of a developed country like Japan, which is famous for its electronics industry. Everyone knows that Japan's electronics industry has always been in a leading position in the world. From the cassette recorders and televisions in the 1970s and 1980s to the later Walkmans, CD players, etc., they have been in a leading position in consumption. But when it comes to mobile phones, Japan is not at the forefront of the world. Whether in Japan or around the world, it is not ahead of early mobile phone brands such as Motorola and Ericsson.
Japan’s mobile phone industry was at the same starting point as Ericsson and Motorola in its initial stage. Japan’s Sony and Sharp were the first to develop mobile phones. Perhaps Japan has led the world in the electronics industry for too long. The Japanese Overly confident in their own technology and too obsessed with their own standards, Japan's early digital signal mobile phones were all card-less mobile phones similar to analog mobile phones.
The mobile phone number must be built into the mobile phone when applying for a mobile phone, which is quite complicated when using and changing mobile phone numbers, resulting in poor global compatibility of Japanese mobile phones. Flip phones have been very popular in Japan for a long time, and a considerable proportion of people still use flip phones today.
These factors have led to the failure of Japanese mobile phones to become popular in the world, and they can only entertain themselves in their own country. Although there are also plug-in mobile phones sold overseas, they have always been unable to compete with companies such as Motorola and Ericsson. .
Japan’s local mobile phone brands include Sony, Sharp, NEC, Kyocera, as well as Toshiba, Panasonic, Fujitsu, Mitsubishi, Sanyang, Casio, softbank, nttdocomo, etc. They are all self-developed brands in Japan. They are very famous, but their mobile phone products are not. Not particularly red.
It was not until the 21st century that Masayoshi Son’s SoftBank took the lead in introducing Apple mobile phones, and card-inserted phablets gradually became popular in Japan.
Now after these years of development, Apple mobile phones are the largest brand in Japan. In the Japanese mobile phone industry, the top five with the highest market share include Sharp, Sony, Samsung, and Huawei. This shows that Japan’s local brands are not the most popular in the country. On the contrary, Apple’s sales are leading the way. Japanese mobile phones are even less worth mentioning overseas. Japan does not occupy a leading position in the digital economy.
What is worthy of praise here is our Huawei mobile phones. Huawei mobile phones have not been in the market for a long time, but with Huawei's super market development capabilities, unconventional development measures and excellent product quality, it has conquered the market in Japan. "City Land" has quickly become popular and has a rapid upward trend, and sales are expected to increase. At the same time, OPPO has also recently entered the Japanese market.
On the other hand, many Japanese still use not only flip phones, but also fax machines. Even the earliest records, tape recorders, CD players, and DVDs are still in use. Moreover, many new albums are released in record, tape, and CD versions. There are many stores on the street that rent video tapes, CD records, and DVDs. The reason for this is Japan's unique national characteristics.
Japan is a country full of contradictions. An American writer once wrote a book called "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword", which illustrates the contradictions in the Japanese national characteristics. The Japanese are conservative and fashionable, kind and evil. , peace and war, tradition and modernity, fascination and science and other characteristics coexist in a contradictory body. Japan has the most modern high-rise buildings, as well as very ancient temple buildings. Many ancient traditions originated from China, but now Japan has preserved them very completely, while many of them in China have been abandoned.
After the Japanese experienced rapid development in the 1970s and 1980s, some people disagreed with their pursuit of material life, fashion, and modern civilization. Many people in Japanese culture advocate nature, simplicity, and They advocate returning to nature, advocating tradition, giving up material pursuits and pursuing personal preferences and satisfaction. Some people love CDs. Although digital music is now very developed, they have no interest in it; some people just like records and watch them. The feeling of the record spinning in circles and listening to the melody cannot be replaced by other musical methods. There are still a large proportion of flip phones in Japan, and the people who use flip phones are not necessarily the elderly. These people just like a simple lifestyle and are not interested in the multi-functionality of smartphones. Therefore, in Japan, traditional things and some things that we think are outdated continue to be popular, not because of economic reasons, but entirely because of their pursuit of individuality. I met a young Japanese fashion designer. He was very fond of the style of a small brand, so he would rather give up the generous treatment given to him by a large company and still be obsessed with the design of a small brand.
The principle that Japanese people always believe in is not to cause trouble to others, so many people do not have very close relationships even with relatives and friends. Everyone is just acquaintances, so most people's lives are just Satisfy your own hobbies, do not compare with others, and do not follow the crowd. This is also one of the reasons why many things in Japan that we think are outdated are still popular. The reason why many things in China become obsolete very quickly is because everyone has a comparison mentality. After a new thing appears, if others have it and you don’t have it, , I feel that it is very backward and very unsuccessful. In order to buy an Apple mobile phone, I even sold my kidney, so this has also caused many things to be short-lived. Nowadays, it is difficult to buy a blank tape in China, let alone a tape recorder.
It’s just that some people are still using them. It’s not the majority. Many people use smart phones like Apple, Samsung, and Sony. It’s just that most people in Japan are not like the Chinese, and more than half of them change their phones every year. A fraction of those who haven’t replaced their phones in two years. Those who haven’t replaced their phones in three years are mostly aunts and uncles. There are also a few Samsung flip-screen phones that cost tens of thousands to buy that year and are still in use, but most of them still have a smartphone. Relatively speaking, most Japanese people are very frugal. This is something that the current Chinese people cannot learn. Don’t think that Japan is bad or that is bad. There is nothing wrong with being frugal
Japan Black technology is developing rapidly, and a functional machine can do many things, such as swiping a credit card for subway tickets, watching TV, and it is free forever and does not require an Internet connection. In fact, Japanese people now also like iPhone very much. They pay attention to experience. If a mobile phone can enhance their experience, no matter what brand it is, it will do.
I think the main reason is that Japanese people are not yet so dependent on mobile phones, and they also The concept of cars and mobile phones is that they can be used. There is no pursuit of full screens or beautiful selfie effects like in China. However, it is worth mentioning that most of the current mobile phone cameras are made by Sony. Although the domestic demand Not really, but the domestic demand is huge
According to the "Nihon Keizai Shimbun" report, Japan still has a large number of practical flip phones. Japanese brands are better at making flip covers, such as Sharp. However, now there is a trend of Japanese mobile phones with touch screen smartphones taking over the market. In the past, maybe 35 of the 40 people on the train used flip phones, but now more than half of the touch screen phones are Apple phones, and the rest are Samsung, Huawei, HTC, etc. .
Why do so many people in Japan still use flip phones?
1 The elderly are conservative
Japan is an aging society, with a high proportion of elderly people. The elderly are often a conservative group. They are used to using flip-top non-smartphones and are unwilling to switch to smartphones easily.
2 Japan’s folding culture
Japan respects some inherited habits of nature, such as folding culture.
Especially the convenience of folding culture such as clothes, wallets, umbrellas and folding bicycles has been proven by history and is still used today. It can be seen that it does have a side worth spreading, and the same goes for flip phones, which also belong to the folding culture.
3 Because it is not easy to break, for example, it will not damage the screen
This is true. After all, if a screen of imported smartphones, especially iPhones, breaks, the original , repairing it costs thousands of yuan, and Japan costs 20,000 yen, which is a big expense.
4 Operator Channels
Most mobile phones in Japan are deeply customized by operators, and sales of mobile phones through public channels are extremely poor. The reason why the iPhone was able to enter the Japanese market was also due to the introduction of SoftBank, and it was unexpectedly very successful. Therefore, it is often several major operators that determine the brand sales and popular trends of mobile phones in Japan.
5 Design Concept
There are many flip phones in Japan, which is due to design concept and usage habits. In terms of design, Japanese people are the opposite of tall European and American people. They don't care about the size of mobile phones, but pursue operation and display effects. Flip phones have large screens and keyboards, which meet their needs.
In terms of usage habits, Japanese mobile phone screens are always the best, including area, refresh speed, color, etc. Because Japanese people want to read comics, watch TV, and play games.
But in the long run, Japan will also transition to the smartphone era.
But what is sad is that the smartphone era will not be owned by Japanese mobile phone brands, but by American brands, Korean brands and even Chinese mobile phone brands. As mentioned above, the reason is that Japanese operators monopolize machine sales channels, resulting in Nissan's machine innovation being weak and lacking motivation. High-end models were suppressed by Apple, and low-end and mid-range models were crushed by China and South Korea, resulting in a disastrous failure in the smartphone market. Only Sony was able to survive, but in the end it could not even hold on to the Japanese domestic market, let alone the international market.
I heard from Japanese friends that because Japan has a high cheating rate, flip phones are not as easy to get caught as smartphones. This is a very important reason.