Am I the only only one, or can we rally together to get Verizon to tell MFGs that the community wants 4G Basic phones with qwerty keyboard?
It's not up to Verizon. There no money in basic phones for manufactures so very few are getting made and you certainly aren't going to see any with QWERTY keyboards. If you did they be priced higher than even the cheapest smartphone. I know you don't want to hear it but time to upgrade to a smartphone. Less than 5% of phones that get upgraded are basic phones and that number grows smaller each day and over 91% of phones on Verizon network are smartphones and that number grows each day.
Hi boringusername,
Thanks for taking the time to respond to my query!
Of course I’m aware that the overwhelming majority of customers choose a smartphone as their primary cellphone.
However, there is a clique out there that for one reason or another prefers not to have a smartphone as their primary device. In Oct of '17 VZW had 149 million subscribers (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verizon_Wireless). Based on the stats in your response ("over 91% of phones on Verizon network are smartphones"), that would mean over 1 million 'basic phones' (aka: ‘feature phones’) in the VZ network. If these users held out till now, it is not due to lack of smartphone models in their local cell phone store. It is by choice!
Additionally, there is the current ‘minimalists’ trend (or fad, if you will) of smartphone users looking to ‘dumb-down’ their current devices or switch to ‘simple’ devices (see: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/light-phone-2#/,
Also, let’s not forget many parents are opting to limit their kids' exposure to and time spent on digital devices.
Hopefully we can get VZ to hear from us. Maybe VZ can persuade some manufacturer to re-introduce a 4G model or two of the very recently available and successful ‘feature phones’ with QWERTY keyboards and add it to their lineup of the 5 lonely ‘basic phones’ available on the Verizon website.
M S
That 145 mil is devices not actual people and includes business and government contracts and also includes devices like tablets and smartwatches and hotspots. Actual number of residential postpaid phones is around 90 million with about 8 million being basic phones. That number drops every day. Four years ago it was 22 million. As I said Verizon can't force anyone to do anything. If basic phones aren't making money then companies won't make them. And they certainly aren't going to include features like qwerty keyboards. But let says Verizon could force these companies to make more basic phones. Odds are they don't have new models on the drainboards now so that would take a couple of years at least to start selling all these new models you want. So even if you got your wish it would be 2-3 years before you have this expanded choice.
We welcome your input, MPOSHES. Thanks for taking the time to reach out and advise about your request for more basic phones to be introduced to the device line-up. Aside from the QWERTY keyboard, what keeps you from making the switch to a smart-phone?
Chris_VZW
Follow us on TWITTER @VZWSupport
If my response answered your question please click the _Correct Answer_ button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!!
Verizon Wireless Customer Support wrote:
We welcome your input, MPOSHES. Thanks for taking the time to reach out and advise about your request for more basic phones to be introduced to the device line-up. Aside from the QWERTY keyboard, what keeps you from making the switch to a smart-phone?
Chris_VZW
Follow us on TWITTER @VZWSupport
If my response answered your question please click the _Correct Answer_ button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!!
You some people are not tech savvy and also don't need to use apps and stuff and just want a simple device they can use to call and text. And basic phones only plans are only $30.
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