Pixel, Galaxy or iPhone? None of them if this madness continues

The ever increasing price tags

Every year when the newest flagships are announced everybody expects price hikes alongside them. It’s not even surprising and is just something that everyone thinks is normal. So much so that this year’s unchanging prices for Apple’s newest phones were a bigger shock than any price increases might have been.

And a lot of these price hikes just seem a bit off. Sure these phones see marginal upgrades each year but do these improvements really warrant increasing the cost by at least $100? We’ve gotten to a point where battery capacities remain unchanged, the cameras are the same as last year’s and the display resolutions don’t improve either.

And yet the newest phones are more expensive. Why? Simply because people still keep buying them. Supply and demand. Or to put it more accurately: supply and opportunity.

So if phones are increasing in cost almost every year and minimum wage laws remain unchanged how come people keep buying said phones? Well, at least in the U.S. there are two major reasons for this.

• Carrier contracts
• Trade-ins

Most consumers in the U.S. who buy a new phone don’t actually purchase it by forking over the full amount listed on its price tag. They instead sign a contract with a carrier company for incremental monthly installments that can stretch over multiple years. This provides them with the illusion that they can afford this phone but many fail to realize the extra cost they pay on top.

Carriers often lock consumers into costlier service plans than they might have required. So while the person does end up with a shiny new phone they’re now paying extra for something that they never needed in the first place. Add onto this the allure of trading in an old phone for a newer one at a lowered price and it becomes easy to see how people fall into this trap.

Carrier companies usually offer new phones at discounted rates if you turn in an older phone in good condition. This leads to consumers falling into a loop of constantly upgrading and continuously paying for a new phone without ever truly owning anything. It’s the same trap many folks fall into when they finance a car well beyond their means: leading to them living paycheck to paycheck just so they have a nice car to commute to the office in.

It’s getting worse

Getting back to the main topic at hand it’s safe to say that modern smartphones are becoming a bit too unaffordable. Inflation is no hidden secret and salaries have remained stagnant leading to massive protests for minimum wage law reforms. The average Joe is struggling and soon will not be able to justify repeatedly upgrading their phone each year.

And now that president elect Donald Trump has proposed tariffs we are likely going to see price hikes across the board. Apple may be exempt from tariffs similar to Trump’s first term. But if it isn’t then it’ll be hit much harder than rival Samsung because Apple relies heavily on Chinese manufacturing.

Then again reports about Qualcomm allege that the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2 will cost significantly more. Which means that Samsung has its own pricing troubles to look forward to. Long story short is that all of these problems are going to lead to costlier phones for the end consumer.

What’s even more frustrating is that phone manufacturers are continuing to design devices that are even more expensive. Take foldable phones for example. While some swear by them others say they are never going to pay that much for a gimmick. And now Apple is apparently working on an iPhone 17 Air that is going to be extremely slim, much less powerful and yet the most expensive iPhone next year.

With budget Chinese offerings being gated behind import hassles and carriers offering enticing contracts for flagships it’s no wonder most consumers opt for an expensive phone. Oftentimes certain software features are locked to the flagships as well which makes people reconsider buying a mid-range phone.

The only saving grace in recent times has been the rising popularity of long-term software support. Samsung, Google and Apple have all massively stepped up their support durations and have offered consumers a reason to stick with their phones for longer.

This can’t go on forever

Smartphones cannot keep adding an additional $100 every year or so. It is unsustainable and has already led to consumers declaring modern phones too expensive to be worth yearly upgrades.

This practice has also locked out customers that don’t want to sign a contract with a carrier. And these phones have become almost a pipe dream for people in lower income countries that don’t have carrier contracts or trade-in deals.

With modern flagships costing the same as a beefy gaming laptop I think it’s time for smartphone companies to take a step back and reconsider their strategy. Surely they’re not under the impression that their sales will remain unaffected when they announce a $2,000 base trim flagship?

Perhaps it’s time to stop focusing so much on nanometers — which are pure marketing anyway — and start focusing more on software improvements and more spaced out releases. Then again I doubt that any company will be willing to give up their current profit model.

And we’re the ones who suffer for it.