Why are Smartphones so expensive?

[Hayman]

This is a topic I brought up elsewhere a few years ago and I think it's worthwhile bringing up here. I don't know if it's just me, but can anyone explain why smartphones are so expensive? We're talking several hundred pounds for even a reasonably basic one… Phone technology is very cheap to come by these days and devices such as an iPad, can be available for a few hundred pounds. So, why when you combine both together, are we seeing prices comfortably upwards of £5/6/700… Sorry, but it just doesn't make sense at all to me. The sums just don't add up. Most phones I've seen advertised are quite literally twice the amount I would be willing to pay for one.

Considering most people own a smartphone these days and they've been on the market for several years – why are we seeing the already high costs of these phones still rising? Usually, once a market gets flooded with a particular product or line of product – prices start dropping off to keep encouraging sales. Sadly, it seems smartphones are immune from this and we're now starting to see these phones creeping up dangerously towards four figure sums. How can any of these companies possibly justify this sort of figure for a mobile phone…?

If this continues on, we're going to start seeing people literally taking out second mortgages just to have a mobile phone. If you buy one outright – you're looking at a month's salary (plus) if you're on poor pay. If you're on a monthly contract, some are now as eyewateringly expensive as an average Sky Subscription. Having a quick look at one particular website for one particular current, popular phone – the absolute cheapest deal I could find was £44 a month! I recall when contacts were available for about £10 a month – and I'm not exactly talking a long time ago either. Again, how on earth are these prices justified?!

As things stand, I have a pay as you go smartphone. It's four years old and was a 'hand me down' from my brother as until that point, I had a Nokia dating back to 2005. Whilst I enjoy the features of a smartphone and that I can hook onto free WiFi which can be handy at times, I can't justify how these phones are the prices they are (I think mine was about £600 brand new) or why they cost so much on a monthly contract…

I would love to upgrade it at some point but the prices are so prohibitively expensive that I can basically see me sticking with the phone I have, on pay as you go, until I get given another second-hand phone to keep me somewhere within of being a decade out of date… (I've yet to buy any mobile phone I've had. They've either been bought as presents or handed down – usually the latter).

Given we're moving further towards an online age where it's becoming essential to have a smartphone, I really don't understand why we see these phones getting more and more expensive given the technology is so readily available… Even older models that are still available to buy new don't seem to drop that much in price… It's as if each improvement sees a price rise - but we don't see a drop for the now outdated technology for those who don't have bottomless wallets, don't really care about style or don't have 100's of friends they text every day. The price for the older technology remains fairly fixed - and at a price that's already out of your reach which is why you couldn't get it in the first place...

As a result of this, I don't remain just a little bit behind the times, but I'm always several years behind... Just like my social life...

[flumpsy]

My phone is over 10 years old and I havent found a reason to upgrade. (sony xperia mini). When it breaks I buy a second hand one from ebay for about £50, same model.

The technology in a smartphone is very extreme though, and bloody tiny, a fraction of the size of an ipad. They use the fact people want the latest thing to cram as much in as they can, be the very best, and charge whatever they want because people think a smartphone is essential. The majority are sold on contract too so people see the cost spread out over how ever long the contract is and not the actual cost difference between that and a sim only deal.

If you are looking for a cheaper option the OnePlus3 is quite good, my mate has it and its pretty good. Personally, until a phone comes out with a must have feature I will stick with my £50 xperia.

[Mo34]

I have no idea to be honest i'm afraid.

What does annoy me is that although I have a smart phone (a Samsung galaxy S5 mini) I have next to no reception still where I live or in much of the surrounding villages going on for many miles. As for accessing the internet on it, outside of connecting to wifi, forget about it. They want us to start using it for things like buses and picking up parcels (showing a code to the shop) or contact less purchases. Fat chance. It's 2017 and still here we have no effective phone signals or mobile internet I live in West Sussex not the bloody outer Hebrides.

It's annoying paying for a contract phone which I can't use much of the time for phone calls (or txtn sometimes) or outside my flat for the internet/apps. I might add it's not just one network either, it appears to be all of them.

[David K]

My phone is from 2013 and still fine. It'll do anything except play the latest games, and I don't play many phone games so I don't care. I had to replace the battery last year so it'll probably last another year or two now.

You can get a brand new smartphone on pay as you go for £100. Probably less, I couldn't be arsed to check any further.

As to why the latest, top-end models are expensive, it's because the companies that make them are locked in an arms race. The top-end models are always at the cutting edge, and if you value that, you have to be prepared to pay for it. The price at the top end will never fall, because it's different/newer technology every year.

Is there something you want your phone to do, that it isn't capable of? Maybe there's an option you haven't considered.

Originally Posted by Laird McFlumpsy

My phone is over 10 years old and I havent found a reason to upgrade. (sony xperia mini). When it breaks I buy a second hand one from ebay for about £50, same model.

Those are fab phones. Most of the time I prefer pure touchscreen phones, but when you need to do button stuff it's good to have some buttons so you can press buttons.

Originally Posted by Mo34

What does annoy me is that although I have a smart phone (a Samsung galaxy S5 mini) I have next to no reception still where I live or in much of the surrounding villages going on for many miles. As for accessing the internet on it, outside of connecting to wifi, forgot about it. They want us to start using it for things like buses and picking up parcels (showing a code to the shop) or contact less purchases. Fat chance. It's 2017 and still here we still have no effective phone signals or mobile internet I live in West Sussex not the bloody outer Hebrides.

It's annoying paying for a contract phone which I can't use much of the time for phone calls (or txtn sometimes) or outside my flat for the internet/apps. I might add it's not just one network either, it appears to be all of them.

The reception here is shocking. I think they're actually trolling me, because one day last year I suddenly had full bars of 4G signal. The next day it was back to one bar of 3G.

Originally Posted by Hayman

If this continues on, we're going to start seeing people literally taking out second mortgages just to have a mobile phone. If you buy one outright ***8211; you're looking at a month's salary (plus) if you're on poor pay. If you're on a monthly contract, some are now as eyewateringly expensive as an average Sky Subscription. Having a quick look at one particular website for one particular current, popular phone ***8211; the absolute cheapest deal I could find was £44 a month! I recall when contacts were available for about £10 a month ***8211; and I'm not exactly talking a long time ago either. Again, how on earth are these prices justified?!

If you're only interested in £700 phones, £44 per month sounds fine. You're taking out a loan for the cost of the phone. £700 over 24 months, plus interest, plus the actual calls and data part of the contract. If you don't need a £700 phone you can get a SIM only contract for very little. I pay £5/month to plusnet.

[Dougella]

Because they are smart (sorry)

[flumpsy]

^^ I love my xperia mini pro, in order to get the screen big enough for a keyboard to be of any use most new phones are huge. Thin (big deal) but massive. There is no way I am gonna get through a day the way I live with a massive bit of thin glass in my pocket without smashing it. I guess its ok if you carry a purse but I gave that up, I just am not compatible with large glass pocket items.

Mine is chunky and thick but tiny and built to last and I can both rest my fingers on the keys and actually tell when I have hit a button so I dont need to look at the screen or keyboard. If they brought out a new version I would buy it immediately. And I will have to give in sometime soon given I am on android 2.3.4 !!!

[kirbycrackle]

The tyranny of not being hip! Oh no I'll be mocked, degraded, cast down from Olympos! All Cause I dont have the latest gizmo to sterilise my individual thought processes.

I'm not a fan either incase I was too subtle

All my phones are secondhand and I couldn't care what people think about me not having the latest models. Sadly, people have been conditioned to waste vast sums on this stuff.

[Ajax Amsterdam]

No idea. I simply wouldn't pay the price for an all singing, all dancing smart phone. I have a Moto 4G on pay as you go and it more than caters for my needs. I may be an old coot, though.

[Mo34]

Originally Posted by Animal mother

The tyranny of not being hip! Oh no I'll be mocked, degraded, cast down from Olympos! All Cause I dont have the latest gizmo to sterilise my individual thought processes.

I'm not a fan either incase I was too subtle

All my phones are secondhand and I couldn't care what people think about me not having the latest models. Sadly, people have been conditioned to waste vast sums on this stuff.

I used to be like this. I had an old nokia brick for years & years which everyone used to take the p*** out of. Swapped up to slightly more modern ones (tho not much, lol). And then last year finally moved to the smart phone world. I don't care about latest models but by God there annoyingly handy. I'm sorta sad to say I couldn't live without one now (well when I'm out of my Goddamn backward village anyways and I actually have a signal. )

[David K]

Originally Posted by Laird McFlumpsy

^^ I love my xperia mini pro, in order to get the screen big enough for a keyboard to be of any use most new phones are huge. Thin (big deal) but massive. There is no way I am gonna get through a day the way I live with a massive bit of thin glass in my pocket without smashing it. I guess its ok if you carry a purse but I gave that up, I just am not compatible with large glass pocket items.

Mine is chunky and thick but tiny and built to last and I can both rest my fingers on the keys and actually tell when I have hit a button so I dont need to look at the screen or keyboard. If they brought out a new version I would buy it immediately. And I will have to give in sometime soon given I am on android 2.3.4 !!!

Yeah they use thinness as a selling point. I preferred the compact bulge of a little Motorola clamshell to the ultraflat tea tray bulge I have now. And my phone is small compared to most. I hope the clamshell makes a comeback once they figure out how to cheaply manufacture folding screens.

[kirbycrackle]

Originally Posted by Mo34

I used to be like this. I had an old nokia brick for years & years which everyone used to take the p*** out of. Swapped up to slightly more modern ones (tho not much, lol). And then last year finally moved to the smart phone world. I don't care about latest models but by God there annoyingly handy. I'm sorta sad to say I couldn't live without one now (well when I'm out of my Goddamn backward village anyways and I actually have a signal. )

Time to ditch the sticks mo!

I mean, yea, they're handy and all that jazz, but damn the way some people I know act when their phones go haywire is pathetic.

I have an iPhone 4, secondhand and if that breaks I'm going back clay tablets

[Ronnie_Pickering]

they're not expensive flipping hell! I bought a £59 smartphone last week and it can pretty much do all I want it to do.
3-4 years ago technology was bad, for £59 you'd get a shitty phone that could barely load a webpage. Now, everything has moved forward, iphones produced like crazy. You can get a iphone 4 for something like £20 and an iphone 5 maybe about £50.
If you want a new phone- look at the Alcatel Pixi 4(5) 4g(they have confusing names) but there is a good one but its the 4g model. And Vodafone smart prime 7 was reviewed well. But will be locked to vodafone most likely.

[David K]

Originally Posted by biscuits

I suppose the cost of product development/design etc. goes int it to.

People are paying for the brand and the distinguished privilege of owning an Apple product.

Yeah, it's like, Ferraris don't cost £200,000 to build, but their customers think they're worth it. Everything has a markup, and the markup is whatever the customers are prepared to pay.

[kirbycrackle]

Originally Posted by biscuits

I suppose the cost of product development/design etc. goes int it to.

People are paying for the brand and the distinguished privilege of owning an Apple product.

You on the payroll biscuits?

[kirbycrackle]

^ imagine that lol

[Rocket Spud]

Why are Ugg boots so expensive?

[flumpsy]

^ it takes 8 dead uggs per pair. I think the life of an ugg is severely undervalued.

Much as I dislike apple I think that markup is totally reasonable. Development costs would be huge, then the lawsuits for the dead factory children, the transportation, marketing and finally the retail markup.

[Rocket Spud]

Absolutely, look what happened to the Dodo!

Poor Uggs

[flumpsy]

^ indeed, and can I find a pair of dodo driving gloves ? Can I **** !! Not anymore.

[Rocket Spud]

You can't have it all - not a lot of people have driving socks

[flumpsy]

^ Unfortunately they arent made from an extinct animal, just straight up standard baby pandas.

[Rocket Spud]

Still, at least you can hide those, dodo driving gloves have caused much outrage, you'd be a brave man to possess a pair.

Treasure the hidden comfort

[SpaceMonkey]

There's a reason Apple and Samsung make such huge profits. Won't change as long as people are willing to pay what they ask.

I still have an old Samsung S3 which does everything I need it to. But saying that, I get so jealous whenever I see the latest phone advertised.

[misska]

I brought a refurb Samsung J3 for £69 was meant to be £120. It looks brand new and works great. It's from Sainsbury phone shop.

[Hayman]

Thanks for all your replies and sorry it's taken so long to get back to this thread. A lot has been going on in recent weeks and I'm struggling to find the motivation to post at the moment, to be honest…!

Anyway, the only reason I've half-considered upgrading is because the battery on my existing phone is beginning to fade (it's an iPhone 5S). It's not at the point it's causing annoyance but it's started fading faster than it did only six months ago or so. The phone itself does pretty much everything I want it to do, still. I'm happy with it's features but the battery seems about 20/25% weaker than it used to be…and having an iPod that's approaching it's 7th birthday that now only works if it's got some sort of charge permanently connected to it – I know that in another year or two, my phone is probably going to go the same way…

Contracts seem to be the way forward for Smartphones. As I said, I'm on pay as you go purely because I barely make calls or texts. My phone’s main function is basically a 'safety net' and I do like to hook-up to free WiFi zones. Calls? I can count on one hand in any given month and it's not much more for texts. The contracts I've seen seem to focus heavily on calls/texts (on the presumption everyone has hundreds of friends). I wouldn't be interested in that. For me, it's data that's the most important and that's why I know a contract wouldn't really pay for me. It's just annoying only finding the internet in 'pockets' of areas rather than it always being there - and free WiFi zones don't always work. I can turn on the 3G (which I have done before…) for emergencies, but on my phone as soon as I've used £1 worth of credit that day, it blocks the internet. In my case, I can get through that in barely 10 minutes.

If there comes a time when I want to change, I'm not bothered about buying the most up to date model. It's just worrying that models which are now a year or two behind the latest don't seem to be dropping that much in price – just to give those who don't have heaps of disposable income some sort of vague chance of keeping relatively up to date. If it's outdated technology - then I don't understand why the likes of Apple and Samsung are still charging premium prices as if they're just launched. It makes no sense to me!

It's like when a model of car is being replaced... The existing/old model is often sold off at a notably discounted price to get rid of them or to keep the sales ticking over for a short period of time until the new model is better established. The same logic however, doesn't seem to apply to smartphones. They seem to be discount-proof.

[Toxic]

I spend quite a lot on phones

Well not really, I get contract, I'm also not remotely interested in anything Apple related

I got a Nexus 6p when it was pretty new (so it was probably the Android flagship model at the time, along with whichever samsung was out then, a 6 or a 7)

I pay £30 a month for it, I used to stick to around £20 but I've started to need more data recently, which unfortunately is where the cost goes..the unlimited minutes and texts I get I'm sure contribute to a few pennies of my total cost.

I suppose the way I see it is I'm paying £30 a month for 2 years..so £720, I can probably still sell the phone for £200 at the end of the deal..so I've paid say..£520 for 2 years use of a phone ..so its ending up at £21/22 a month, I don't think its bad if you compare it to some sort of giff gaff £10/15 a month bundle + the cost of a cheap handset, I might as well have a top end one for a similiar price.

I can stomach it better this way, I've never paid a penny for a handset ever, the thought of dropping £700+ on one would make me feel quite sick!

There are reasonable options if you stick to android, some of the Moto's for instance..its only Apple where you don't get much change from £600/£700 and god only knows why!

[Schmosby]

^ You can buy a used S8 for £400, get a sim only deal with voda for example for £10.75 (unlimited calls/texts/16gb data) sell the s8 for £200 after 2 years forba total of £19 per month.

The voda deal is actually a 12 month contract, so you could update your phone like this every year.

[Toxic]

^ sounds reasonable

Although until someone can magic week long batteries its getting to the point where you really don't get much from a new handset if you've already got one thats within a few years old

Sort the batteries out and I'd jump ship but I don't know if I'll be any rush to ditch this Nexus when im out of contract next year..I could just get a £10 a month sim.

I have no real desire for a curved edge screen..I find wireless charging a bit of a silly fad (what if I actually want to use the phone, I can't pick it up like if it was plugged in) a 4k screen is just ridiculous and screams bye bye battery...they really haven't advanced much in the last few years!

[flumpsy]

I get 4 days from my xperia My brother gets 3 weeks from his amish old school nokia.

I saw an article in a paper (yes, it was an actual printed paper) about "battery-less wireless phones". Obviously it was hype what they meant was charger less phones but if they arent just flat out lying they are not that far off having a basic phone/txt so efficient it can get all its power from solar and collecting energy from various waves like wifi etc.

[Schmosby]

^^ I bought an s7 and used it for a month or so and switched back to the s6, I'm kinda thinking about the s8, I think when the price comes down, I'll get one for a bit and see.

^^ ^
I read they are going to be making batteries out of glass that don't deteriorate performance wise over time and hold much more power and don't catch fire or something along these lines.