Young Adults Drive 148% Dumb Phone Sales Surge as Smartphone Use Falls 12%
Updated
Updated · RELEVANT Magazine · Jul 27
Young Adults Drive 148% Dumb Phone Sales Surge as Smartphone Use Falls 12%
1 articles · Updated · RELEVANT Magazine · Jul 27
Summary
Brick phone sales among 18- to 24-year-olds jumped 148% from 2021 to 2024, while smartphone use in that group fell 12%, signaling a sharper Gen Z shift toward simpler devices.
467 participants who blocked smartphone internet for two weeks reported striking gains in a University of Texas study: 91% said mental health and well-being improved, and sustained attention rose enough to offset about a decade of decline.
28% of Gen Z adults now show interest in getting a dumb phone, ahead of millennials at 26%, as psychologists link constant phone use to habit-forming reward loops and worsening focus.
23-year-old Harvard graduate student Gabriela Nguyen turned her own switch to a flip phone into an APPstinent framework after failed attempts at moderation, reflecting a broader move to cut stimulation rather than abandon technology entirely.