I am going to refute you over here.
I can't seem afford a Linux phone (or any mobile device really), simply because they tend to be made by labour in high-pay countries, while I am in a low pay country (which means I am not paid as much either).

And then I can't afford to try any possibly existing Linux ROMs on my phone, because I can't afford to brick it at all.

1. A shitton of people have lived economic realities that don't allow them to splurge on a phone at all, even if they'd really like digital freedom or privacy. See: half of the global smartphone market, where Android Go and KaiOS enabling cheap smartphones lead to millions of sales.

2. People who can and want to don't even make the jump because the reality of owning a non-iOS/Android phone is that it requires sacrifices. I went to a concert last night that required me to have the Ticketmaster app to even get in. Everyone at that concert had to have either an iOS or Android phone, myself included. I'm testing Ubuntu Touch on a second phone, but if I make it my daily driver, I'm going to have to keep a second phone around for stuff like that. Ecosystems are too locked down now, and unfortunately you will have to either miss out on some things, or adapt hard-core.

3. The devices and software have to be there. Right now there are only a handful of truly modern devices thar you can load Ubuntu Touch or another Linux distro on, and they're... not quite straightforward for non-techy people to get up and running. Which is, believe it or not, the vast majority of users.

2025 being the year of the alternative smartphone OS seems just about as likely as any other year being the year of the Linux desktop.

And massive propaganda campaigns are turning people's civic energy back on themselves, and their own communities. Ain't life grand?

I know, but this stuff is adding up where Pixels might stop being the golden child of the custom OS market.