iPhone X Drives Smartphone Price Increase

Following the release of the iPhone X, Apple’s most expensive smartphone to date, the worldwide average selling price of smartphones went up by 10 percent in the fourth quarter of 2017. Starting at $999, the iPhone X is roughly three times as expensive as the average smartphone sold worldwide in 2017, according to point-of-sale data analyzed by GfK.

As markets are increasingly saturated and unit sales growth gets harder to achieve, focusing on premium features is a welcome way for manufacturers to grow the value of their smartphone operations. Confirming this trend, the global smartphone market grew by just one percent in terms of unit sales last year, but by 11 percent in terms of sales value. “This came as the proliferation of smartphones with larger and bezel-less displays incentivized consumers to purchase more expensive devices”, notes Arndt Polifke, Global Director of PoS telecom research at GfK.