The return of nostalgic Blackberry and keyboards accelerates smartphone startups

When Apple launched the iPhone in 2007, physical keyboards were quickly supplanted by touchscreens and disappeared from mainstream smartphones.

Now, a new wave of startups such as UK-based Clicks Technology and Chinese company Unihertz are reviving these companies and carving out a niche for mobile phones with tactile buttons.

The transition away from buttons once seemed final. BlackBerry, long known for its keyboard phones, stopped making hardware in 2016 and ended its software service in 2022.

But fans of square phones with distinctive keyboards remain loyal to the brand. The r/Blackberry subreddit has 25,000 members who share tips and nostalgia about the device.

Chong Yunbo, a communication professor at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, said the renewed interest reflected a broader pattern.

“We tend to use smartphones as a kind of means of expressing ourselves,” Yumbo said. As mobile phones become more integrated into daily life, trends surrounding mobile phones increasingly resemble cyclical fashion trends, he added.

For some users, the appeal lies not in nostalgia but in control. Jeff Gadway, co-founder and chief marketing officer of Clicks Technology, said about 45% of his company’s customer base has never used a mobile phone with a physical keyboard.

“They don’t see this as a nostalgic play, but as a completely new way to use their phones that is more intentional,” he told CNBC.

That sense of purpose is part of the appeal of 23-year-old content creator Chony Alfonso, who typically features retro gadgets on her YouTube channel.

She said switching to a keyboard device created friction and caused her to reconsider how often she uses her cell phone.

Alfonso told CNBC that having “an extra barrier of inconvenience that adds even more steps to the thought process” as opposed to “an accessible glass plate in your hand” became a way for her to spend less time on her phone.

Doomscrolling doesn’t really suit square BlackBerry-style smartphones. Alfonso said switching to a keyboard device has allowed him to spend less time on social media and better manage his schedule.

Clicks Technology’s Gadway said the company’s devices focus on messaging and core functionality, and aim to allow users to focus on their primary tasks without drifting into other apps.

He said the phone, which includes a messaging app in the home launcher, is designed to ensure users can do what they set out to do instead of ending up with a “side quest.”

“It’s about making the time you spend on your phone more valuable.”

Not only does this device work, but it also brings back features that have all but disappeared from mainstream smartphones.

Rather than wireless connectivity, Clicks has keyboards in different languages, an interchangeable back cover, expandable memory card storage and a physical 3.5mm headphone jack, features that are largely omitted from modern smartphones, Gadway said.

For Wei Lun Ng, a 23-year-old audio enthusiast, having a mobile phone that supports wired headphones has become a practical preference.

“Like wireless headphones or wireless earphones, when the battery gets low, the sound starts to cut out, so I don’t think the sound cuts out as much…[It’s]more convenient,” he said.

Wired headphones are also less likely to get misplaced than wireless earbuds, he says.

And they are cheaper. The cheapest model of Apple’s AirPods, which connect using Bluetooth, currently costs $129, while the wired earbuds retail for $19.

Unexpectedly, the keyboard has also attracted users with accessibility needs.

Mr Gadway said some people with low vision or motor control problems found physical keys easier to type on than touchscreens and regained confidence in daily use.

Nanyang Technological University’s Yunbo said physical keyboards may be helpful for people who frequently make typos.

Even though most smartphones have automatic spelling correction, “users don’t really use it[features]because it changes words to completely different words that you don’t intend to use,” he said.

The niche market is becoming increasingly crowded. Companies like Zinwa Technologies and iKKO join Clicks and Unihertz in launching their own keyboard-equipped smartphones this year.

For enthusiasts like Alfonso, more competition could improve the quality of the product.

Interest in physical keyboard phones remains strong. Unihertz’s Kickstarter campaign for the second edition of its Titan phone has attracted more than 8,200 backers and raised more than $4.8 million as of May 8, ahead of the campaign’s May 13 end date.

The company told CNBC that clicks exceeded its six-month pre-order goal within 30 days.

Still, the field faces challenges. Increasing demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure is tightening memory supplies and increasing component costs.

Unihertz recently increased the price of Titan 2 due to rising memory costs. Clicks said it intended to stabilize prices to absorb the pressure.

For now, smartphones with keyboards remain a small corner of the market. But their resurgence suggests that even in a world of uniform glass screens, some users are still looking for something they can feel.