Μon the occasion of them constantly rising prices of "flagships" of leading smartphone manufacturers, the Counterpoint gathered the necessary data to prove that users are constantly increasing their available budget to buy a device.
Last year definitely helped with that Apple iPhone X, which was commercially successful despite its high price and helped the company achieve record profits. The news followed the same pattern this year iPhone XS and XS Max, with even higher prices, but we do not yet have a clear picture of their sales.
At the same time, the leading Android manufacturers (Samsung, Huawei, Google) decided to follow Apple in this high, pricing, category, but without far exceeding the psychological barrier of € 1000. But also the other flagships that range in lower price levels (€ 500-600), were more expensive than last year (Oppo, Vivo, OnePlus)
Smartphones are now very important in the lives of many people and in addition serve as a "statement", one symbol for them, in the eyes of others, just like cars in some cases. Thus, their rising prices and the willingness of users to cover them, are rather expected. Alongside, the quality of the devices also increases, but also their capabilities / technical characteristics, such as water resistance (IP68), performance, etc.
Of course, this means that users can stay with the same device for longer, since it meets their needs. This prolongs the "upgrade cycle" and slows down the market as a whole, something that no manufacturer wants. To achieve the opposite, companies offer Incentives to change device in a shorter period of time, such as grants, exchange programs, etc.
In the results of the research we see something we already knew, such as specific models maintain high prices even in the used market, for example iPhones, which are easily resold at 60-70% of their original value, 1 year after their release.
Average selling price of smartphones - 2nd quarter 2018 and increase on an annual basis
Finally, the ASPs (Average Selling Prices) is constantly growing in all parts of the world, thanks to the most expensive flagships, but alsoin the intention of users to invest more for the purchase of a smartphone, even in small categories, around € 200.
