Global smartphone prices have risen by an average of around 15 per cent since the start of this year due to rising memory chip costs, according to a study by Counterpoint.
More than 40% of models have become more expensive to date, marking the first time this has happened in the industry. At the same time, the cost of some models has almost doubled, as manufacturers have passed on higher component costs to consumers.
The biggest price rises this year were seen in India (21 per cent), the Asia-Pacific region (19 per cent) and the Middle East and Africa (18 per cent). In China, smartphones rose in price by 10 per cent, in Europe by 7 per cent and in the US by 5 per cent, with the price rises mainly affecting new models.
“Memory has become a key factor determining the cost price of smartphones, which has led to price changes across the entire industry,” said Tarun Pathak, Research Director at Counterpoint. “Consumers are reacting to this by postponing upgrades and waiting for sales to buy a phone or turning to the second-hand market.”
Counterpoint’s research was based on the prices of more than 4,000 smartphone models.