In the world of technology, until a few years ago, the word ‘smart’ felt like magic. Smartphones, smart TVs, smart watches, smart homes… every new thing claimed to bring us closer to the future. The dream was that the fridge would order milk itself, the door would open with a mobile, and the microwave would respond.
But now, contrary to ‘smart’, a trend of ‘basic’ things is emerging. Meaning phones, TVs, and devices that just do their job. Not connected to the internet or apps all the time. In Western markets, including America, young people are returning to basic phones. These only have calls, messages, and some essential features.
According to a Gazelle report, sales of such phones among Gen-Z increased by 148% between 2021-24. 16% of Gen Z adults owned such phones. 28% were interested in buying them.
Why are people choosing simpler technology? The wearable market showed signs of the hype for smart gadgets cooling down in India. According to IDC, India’s wearable market in 2024 decreased by 11.3% to 119 million units. Smartwatch shipments fell by 34.4%. People are looking for ‘basic TVs’. Screens that only show what you want to play, rather than tracking your viewing habits.
The reason for this change is not past regrets, but digital fatigue. According to Pew Research, half of American teenagers are online almost all the time. This trend is not seen among technology opponents, but among tech-savvy youth. They want to use technology on their own terms. For them, smartness is not about connecting everything, but about choosing what to connect and what not to. Basic things are not a symbol of backwardness, but of peace, privacy, and control over one’s time.
Perhaps the next tech revolution will be this – less talkative, but more intelligent. The smart home market in India is currently on an upward trend In Copeland’s 2024 survey in America, 27% of people expressed concern about data security in smart devices, whereas in 2022, this figure was 23%. However, in India, the smart home market is still a growing market. It was 3.23 billion dollars (approx. 31 thousand crore rupees) in 2024, which could reach 16.39 billion dollars (approx. 1.57 lakh crore rupees) by 2030.
