Phone the rich: Premium handsets sole survivors of slump in India, China

Worldwide mobile phone shipments continue to decline, but India and China, two of Asia's major economies, are bucking the trend when it comes to premium handsets. This month tech analyst Canalys revealed that sales to retailers, distributors and similar fell by 17 percent in the last quarter of 2022 as many worked to clear …

[Roland6]

$365 ?

That seems to be rather low manufacturers / recommended price for a “premium” phone.

Looking at MobilePhonesDirect, only 18 of the 63 SIM free phones currently for sale are below this price point.

[Black Label1]

Re: $365 ?

Remember India is a third world country with A LOT of people.

Manually solving captchas still feeds one.

[Roland6]

Re: $365 ?

However, looking at the price of comparable mobile phones, there seems to be a small premium over UK prices...

From various sources, it would seem the $365 price point is a global one and not country-specific.

Going back through Counterpoint Research's press releases, I note back in 2014 they had the price threshold at $400, which once adjusted for inflation is a little over $500 in today's money.

Additionally, if we look at some other researchers who specify a premium phone by a long-standing feature set; we have seen that feature set being incorporated into cheaper mid-range phones, with many effectively defining a "premium" phone by its feel...

So basically, an increase in "premium" phone sales is to be expected.