Counterpoint Research Expert confirm For consumers, this is an unpleasant trend. Global retail prices for existing smartphone models have increased by 15% so far this year, and new products will be 25% more expensive than last year’s predecessors as memory price dynamics leave manufacturers with little choice.
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In some cases, smartphone price increases have reached 100%, the sources added, as smartphone makers are forced to pass on rising memory costs to consumers. The highest dynamics in smartphone prices this year have been seen in these regional markets, which are characterized by the popularity of cheaper models for economic reasons. Especially in India, the average price of smartphones increased by 21%, in the Asia-Pacific region by 19%, and in the Middle East and Africa region by 18%. Latin American countries performed slightly worse than the global average, with smartphone average selling prices rising by 16%.
Less affected markets are concentrated on higher-priced smartphone models and subsidized device plans offered by carriers. In China, the average cost of a smartphone has increased by 10% since the beginning of the year, by 7% in Europe and by just 5% in the United States, with price increases mainly reflected in new smartphone models.
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Device makers are forced to optimize costs, which in many cases means reducing memory capacity, simplifying camera packaging and focusing on models that support 4G rather than 5G. In turn, consumers are keeping their existing smartphones longer, choosing models with less memory, and are more likely to buy used smartphones. Additionally, credit and other financing programs are more commonly used to relieve one-time burdens on personal budgets.
When it comes to individual company strategies, experts singled out Apple, where iPhones still account for more than half of the revenue structure. The company has kept smartphone prices unchanged in most regions, even though the cost of memory chips has quadrupled since the fourth quarter of last year, inevitably cutting into smartphone makers’ profits. However, the starting price of the upcoming iPhone 18 series may be higher than the previous generation.
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