Data from German market research company GfK shows that consumers were spending higher for smartphones in 2017 compared to previous years.
The number of smartphones sold in the year increased by 3% only to 1.46 billion units but the total sales value jumped by 9% to $478.7 billion! Countries from ‘Emerging Asia’ which includes the Philippines even posted a higher spending growth of 24%.
More Expensive Smartphones
This means consumers are choosing more expensive phones or phones have been more expensive themselves. I’m more inclined to believe the former since mid-range phones with the trendy 18:9 display dominated the tech news in 2017.
Consumers may have also realized that mid-range smartphones offer a bigger value for money compared to the cheaper budget phones.
Some of the most popular smartphones in the country in 2017 are the Huawei Nova 2i, OPPO F5 and the home brewed Cloudfone Next Infinity Quattro. The Cherry Mobile Flare S6 also gained a huge following but with mixed reviews.
$1000 Smartphones
The year 2017 also saw the rise of mainstream smartphones with more than $1000 or ₱50,000.00 price tags such as the Apple iPhone X and Samsung Galaxy Note 8.
The iPhone X offers the biggest design change in an iPhone in recent years while as usual, the Galaxy Note 8 has the top of the line smartphone features. However, these phones may not have contributed a lot to the increased spending for smartphones since rumors of discontinuation haunts the iPhone X.
