{"id":675503,"date":"2026-09-06T15:31:25","date_gmt":"2026-09-06T15:31:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/675503\/"},"modified":"2026-09-06T15:31:25","modified_gmt":"2026-09-06T15:31:25","slug":"smartphone-prices-surge-21-in-worlds-second-largest-market-highest-increase-globally","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/675503\/","title":{"rendered":"Smartphone prices surge 21% in world\u2019s second-largest market, highest increase globally"},"content":{"rendered":"

India, the world\u2019s second-largest smartphone market by volume, saw a steeper increase than the wider Asia-Pacific region, where prices rose 19%, and the Middle East and Africa, where they increased 18%, according to Counterpoint Research\u2019s Global Smartphone Price Increase Tracker released on Sept. 3.<\/p>\n

Globally, prices of existing smartphone models have risen by an average of 15% this year, with some devices nearly doubling in price. Newly launched smartphones are also debuting at prices around 25% higher than comparable models released a year earlier.<\/p>\n

The increases have been milder in markets where premium devices make up a larger share of sales, with prices up 10% in China, 7% in Europe and 5% in the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\"iPhone<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n

iPhone 17 models. Photo by VnExpress\/Tuan Hung<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Memory prices have risen about fourfold since late 2025, putting particular pressure on India, where low- and mid-priced smartphones account for a large share of sales and manufacturers have less room to absorb higher component costs, according to Outlook Business.<\/p>\n

Brands and retailers have also pulled back discounts to protect thinning margins, according to an International Data Corporation (IDC) report released last month. The shift marks a reversal from last year, when early festive discounts and offers were used to stimulate demand.<\/p>\n

Overall smartphone shipments declined 10% year-on-year in the April-June quarter, the biggest drop for a June quarter in six years, according to a Counterpoint report released in July.<\/p>\n

Chinese manufacturers have been particularly exposed because of their strong presence in India’s entry-level and mass-market segments. Vivo remained the country’s largest smartphone seller during the quarter, while Samsung and Apple proved more resilient as consumers increasingly moved toward higher-priced devices.<\/p>\n

Globally, manufacturers are also responding to higher costs by offering lower storage capacities, reducing camera specifications and adjusting their product lineups.<\/p>\n

Consumers are delaying upgrades, choosing lower-storage models and turning to refurbished devices, while financing and trade-in programs are helping soften the impact of higher prices.<\/p>\n

Apple has so far kept existing iPhone prices broadly steady despite the industry-wide increases, but Counterpoint Senior Analyst Karn Chauhan expects prices to rise for the upcoming iPhone 18 series.<\/p>\n

Memory shortages and elevated component costs are expected to persist in the near term, prompting manufacturers to prioritize higher-margin premium models while adjusting specifications and storage options to contain price increases in more price-sensitive segments, he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"India, the world\u2019s second-largest smartphone market by volume, saw a steeper increase than the wider Asia-Pacific region, where…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":675504,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[257],"tags":[18,285660,19,17,279,285659,82],"class_list":["post-675503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mobile","tag-eire","tag-highest-increase-globally-vnexpress-international","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-mobile","tag-smartphone-prices-surge-21-in-worlds-second-largest-market","tag-technology"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117224819785123273","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/675503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=675503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/675503\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/675504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=675503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=675503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=675503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}