Forget the internet, apps, widgets, gps and anything else to do with a smartphone: basic cell phones are back in fashion, those that can do a few things: send short text messages, make calls, and little else. They are the Nokias, the Ericssons, the Motorolas of the pre-smartphone era, cell phones that fit comfortably in a pocket, had batteries that lasted even a whole week and were practically indestructible.
There are essentially two categories of consumers who buy vintage mobile phones: collectors, and those who, tired of the fragility of highly sophisticated new generation smartphones, want a solid and cheap second mobile phone. “There are people willing to pay up to 1000 euros for one of these old models without batting an eye,” says Djassem Haddad, who in 2009 launched a site called vintagemobile.
“The high price” he adds “is due to the difficulty in finding some of these models, which were, in their time, limited editions”. Over the past three years, Haddad has sold 10 units, but it's been since the beginning of 2013 that sales have really started to take off. Among the best sellers on the site, at a cost of 59,99 euros, the Nokia 8210, which boasts a tiny monochrome screen and plastic buttons. Even Damien Douani, a new technology expert at the FaDa agency, admits that it's becoming increasingly trendy to use a retro mobile phone.
“There are many reasons,” he observes, “there is the pleasure of rediscovering an object we used to use when we were much younger, there is the feeling of overdose that comes from those who live in a hyper-connected society, and finally there is the desire to stand out in an environment where everyone now owns a smartphone”. Brands – adds Douani – are now leveling the offer and as a result smartphones all look alike, while up until ten years ago the big telephony companies were much more creative. In line with this current of thought, the Lekki online shop offers a wide range of vintage mobile phones.
"Too many online social networks and an exaggerated number of applications has made our daily life a slave to technology," reads the website "what we propose is a return to essential technology, which offers basic functions, of proven utility ”.
Attachments: Technology Inquirer
