this post was submitted on 24 Jun 2026
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278
"We Listened" - Commodore Reduces The Price Of Its Forthcoming Callback 8020 'Dumbphone' (www.timeextension.com)
submitted 1 day ago by sundray@lemmus.org to c/technology@lemmy.world
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Announced a short time ago, the Callback 8020 is seen as a means of combating the addictive lure of the modern-day smartphone. While it supports Android apps via its SailfishOS, it disables features like web browsing and social media by default.

However, despite the noble quest for a 'digital detox', the phone met with a somewhat frosty reception online (no pun intended), with many comparing it to an elderly relative's flip phone. In our poll, 70 percent of you said you wouldn't be buying one.

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[โ€“] gointhefridge@lemmy.zip 1 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

Yes, but also, ROI on development and marketing and research costs etc. This is a niche product with no clear distribution channel. While cost to produce based on parts alone is low, what about procurement, planning, distribution, marketing, development etc? Everyone needs to make money to get the product off the ground.

Plus this is a completely unproven product (generally) static landscape. Price is basically dictated on how they can penetrate a market, gain market share, and still make profit after all the work that goes into making that a reality.

[โ€“] Aceticon@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 2 hours ago

Those things are mostly a problem due to limited number of sales and thus lack of economies of scale, as they're mostly the kind of cost that are global rather than per-device hence the more the sales the less their impact in the device price.

That's the vicious cycle of "not enough sales for cheaper prices via economies of scale leading to higher prices leading to fewer sales" for hardware startups without massive upfront investor funding and the reason why, say, a Fairphone or Jolla Phone are a bit more expensive than one would expect.