TEMPO.CO, London - The retro cellphone games such as Snake could be on their way back to their 90s popularity, along with the vintage handset they were played on. Daily Mail reported that consumers had recently looked for simpler old-style phones and turn away from their smartphones.
The trend has elevated the prices of some types of retro mobile phones such as Nokia, Ericsson, and Motorola, which reach 1,000 Euro (Rp15.8 million). Despite its minimum features, the old-style mobile phones have longer standing batteries and are simpler to use.
"Some people don't blink at the prices, we have models at more than 1,000 Euro (810 poundsterling or 1,360 US dollars)," said Djassem Haddad, the founder of vintagemobile.fr as quoted by Daily Mail.
For example, Nokia 8800 Arte Gold is now tagged at 1,000 Euro on the website, while Nokia 8800 is tagged at more affordable price of 250 poundsterling (Rp3.9 million).
Haddad revealed that in the last two years, he has been selling 10,000 retro mobile phones. Nokia 8210 with small monochrome screen and plastic button become people’s favorite with the price of 59.99 Euro.
"The ageing population is looking for simpler phones, while other consumers want a second cheap phone," Haddad added.
"There is a great sensation of finding an object that we knew during another era - a little like paying for vintage sneakers that we couldn't afford when we were teenagers," Damien Douani, an expert on new technologies at FaDa agency told AFP.
"There is also logic of counter-culture in reaction to the over-connectedness of today's society, with disconnection being the current trend. That includes the need to return to what is essential and a basic telephone that is used only for making phone calls and sending text messages."
DAILYMAIL | A. RIJAL
