If you raise the price, I won’t buy it. Over 70% of consumers choose to postpone the replacement of mobile phones and simply change brands.

Abstract:

Counterpoint Research's annual global smartphone consumer survey shows that in the face of widespread price increases in the mobile phone market, more than 70% of potential phone purchasers will make adjustments, either directly postponing their replacement plans or simply switching to another brand. Data shows that 63% of consumers who plan to purchase a smartphone in the next six months have noticed an increase in smartphone prices.

Chinese consumers have the highest awareness of rising smartphone prices, reaching 81%

The report shows that by the end of 2026, the price of smartphones on sale globally is expected to increase by an average of 20%, and the price of newly released models will increase by up to 30% year-on-year. Affected by this, consumers tend to postpone phone replacement and choose to purchase phones during large-scale promotions.

But ordinary consumers are not willing to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars more for a small upgrade.

Only 44% of consumers are willing to increase their budget for their favorite model, 37% will postpone the purchase, and 35% will look for alternative models within their budget.

The market has also reflected the results, with prices rising and volume falling. Mobile phone prices are rising, but overall shipments are declining. Many manufacturers want to make more profits by increasing the selling price of a single machine, but they ignore the large number of price-sensitive users and simply give up purchasing the machine.

For mobile phone manufacturers, the current situation is rather embarrassing. The cost of upstream components remains high, and it is not easy to reduce prices. But if prices continue to rise, ordinary consumers will continue to be dissuaded. If you want to boost sales in the future, you can't just rely on increasing hardware prices, but you also have to come up with actual upgrades that are enough to impress users.

Ordinary consumers are becoming more and more rational and will not blindly chase new products. Mobile phones have changed from fast-moving consumer goods to durable home appliances. Whether the price goes up or not, the final choice to buy is in the hands of the user.