A rebound in uptake of feature phones in Kenya in 2025 has left more people disconnected from the internet, slowing social media use and undermining the benefits associated with online and digital media.
Data from the Communications Authority of Kenya (CAK) shows that consumers bought a record two million feature phones in the first quarter of the year, disposed of some in the second quarter, and then purchased a further 917,671 units in the three months to September.
While buying and disposing of phones is normal, the scale of new button phone purchases this year is unusual for a society that has been steadily becoming more digitised and tech-savvy.
Over the past two years, the number of feature phones in the market has been consistently declining as users upgraded to smartphones, which have become more accessible through device financing programmes flooding the market.
Between December 2022 and January 2025, Kenyans discarded more than three million keypad phones, but went on to buy over two million in just the three months to March, reversing a trend that was expected to persist amid rising smartphone penetration.
As a result, there has been a noticeable decline in internet and social media usage, since most feature phones offer limited access to the internet and popular online platforms compared with smartphones.
Latest data from internet monitoring firm Meltwater shows that the share of Kenyans using the internet fell from 48 percent at the start of the year to about 40.5 percent currently.
Countries such as Nigeria, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, which have historically lagged Kenya in internet usage, have now overtaken it, pointing to a shift in how Kenyans access and use the internet amid the resurgence of feature phones.
Fewer people are using mobile phones to go online. Meltwater data shows the share of web traffic coming from mobile devices declined from 71.98 percent at the beginning of the year to 60.1 percent currently.
About 40.6 percent of Kenyan internet users now access the web through computers, significantly higher than Nigeria’s 22.2 percent, Morocco’s 16.5 percent, and Ghana’s 13.8 percent.
This suggests that a growing share of internet use in Kenya is work-related, while leisure use of the web continues to decline.
Although more Kenyans online are using social media platforms, they are engaging with fewer platforms on average. Compared with last year, Kenyans now use six social media apps, down from seven.
Engagement with posts has also weakened, with businesses reporting fewer referrals from social media platforms such as Facebook, whose share of brand referrals fell to 27 percent this year from 49 percent last year.
Several factors appear to be driving the rebound in feature phone usage. Analysts point to the high cost of living, which has pushed smartphones beyond the reach of many consumers.
“A vast majority of those buying phones right now are buying on credit, because where do you get the money to pay cash for a smartphone? Phone sellers now rely on the pay-as-you-go model,” an executive at a phone company in Kenya told Business Daily
Others suggest the spike may be linked to recent civil unrest and reports of abductions, with some users switching to simpler devices to avoid digital surveillance.
“There could be cases of people buying feature phones as second, third, or even fourth devices to avoid being tracked, because they believe those phones are untraceable,” said one observer.
The decline in smartphone demand has been building over time as economic pressures squeeze household budgets, forcing cutbacks on discretionary spending.
Analysis by tech research firm Canalys shows smartphone shipments to Kenya fell for three consecutive quarters from March last year, reflecting weakening demand amid shrinking disposable incomes.
Kenya now joins a growing list of countries where smartphones appear to be losing ground to simpler devices, though unlike in Kenya, users elsewhere are often motivated by a desire to disconnect from constant online engagement.
In countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States, demand for feature phones has risen as users seek relief from digital overload, according to a recent BBC report.
“Now, we’re seeing more and more feature phones making a comeback. In an always-on digital world, people crave quality and simplicity,” wrote Raun Forsyth, head of design at Finnish phone maker HMD Global.
Experts, however, say Kenya’s trend is driven more by economic realities than by the digital detox motivations observed in Western markets.
