Global smartphone wholesale price to grow 11% year-over-year

According to the latest research from Strategy Analytics, global smartphone wholesale price will grow +11% year-over-year from US$279 in 2020 to $310 in 2021. This is the highest price in the smartphone industry since 2013, notes the research group.

Smartphones in the “$600 and above” price tier spurred market growth. Strategy Analytics says this is driven by the solid sales of the iPhone 12 series, enriched foldable line up from Samsung, and sales of other premium devices from Chinese vendors like the OnePlus 9 series, Xiaomi 11 series, OPPO Reno series, Vivo X series, etc. 

“We expect the newly launched iPhone 13 series will add to the above-mentioned factors during the fourth quarter of 2021,” says Linda Sui, senior director at Strategy Analytics. “We forecast ‘$600 and above’ price tier will grow +34% year-over-year by volume and +48% year-over-year by revenue, significantly outperforming the overall market and other price bands.”

Analyst Abhilash Kumar expects global smartphone wholesale prices to fallback modestly to $300 in 2022. “Easing supply constraints and component price spikes, as well as the expected iPhone SE model which should be refreshed during the first half of 2022 will fuel price pullbacks. We expect global smartphone wholesale price will be back on the upwards track from 2023 to 2025,” he adds.