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Out of topic, what's the purpose of physical numpad in a modern phone? Inputting text with T9? Pure nostalgy? Fill the void because bigger screen would be too expensive?

I find it hard to believe that manual entering of phone numbers is common use case. Nowadays people mainly communicate by texting/chatting via social networks, right?

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The speed I could type text messages with T9 is something I will never achieve with my iphone.

I am however guessing that a smaller screen will lead to longer battery life and the phone seems to aim itself at markets where that matters more than in the west.

Some people just like it more, if they have haptic feedback. It's "The Feel". You can do this without watching the screen, for example. Not everyone wants a PC in their pocket. Some just need a phone, that does connect them to more than just another phone and let's them shoot photos, I guess.

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