Why are phones so expensive?

Permabanned
Joined
2 Sep 2017
Posts
10,490
I think the R&D involved in the creation of the Huawei P30 Pro is huge and the phone costing ~700 euros is a fair and justified price.

I think Sony, Nokia, Samsung and Apple's phones don't deserve their pricetags because their capabilities are much lower.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
26 Dec 2003
Posts
30,837
Location
Shropshire
I think the R&D involved in the creation of the Huawei P30 Pro is huge and the phone costing ~700 euros is a fair and justified price.

I think Sony, Nokia, Samsung and Apple's phones don't deserve their pricetags because their capabilities are much lower.
Launch price was 999 Euros for the base model and having owned one it didn't really justify it in real world usage.
 
Soldato
Joined
11 Jun 2015
Posts
11,091
Location
Bristol
They are getting more expensive but when I consider how much I use them I don't mind it as much. I'd still rather it be cheaper but when people make comparisons between things "Oh you could get a decent gaming laptop for the same price as an XS Max". Perhaps. But those things wont get used as much as a phone.

I'd argue that today a phone is better value than most other things when you consider how much you use them.
 
Permabanned
Joined
2 Sep 2017
Posts
10,490
I bought my VKworld S8 for 176$ directly from Hong Kong, paid the DHL shipping and VAT, and got a very decent phone with excellent display quality and amazing battery.
Right now, it is on its way to get 17 days of life!
 
Caporegime
Joined
21 Jun 2006
Posts
38,372
Prices will come down. People were willing to pay it when each upgrade was meaningful. Now upgrades are small people look more at the price. Same as CPUs.

Not really. Everyone I know pays monthly. Now they get more for their money. Before they got phone and calls. Now they get data, etc.

I know someone who is looking at a new iphone for his mrs. £60 a month. for 60GB of data unlimited calls and texts.

Paying monthly the real cost is hidden to a lot of people. All they see is £60 rather than £1400 over 2 years.
 
Associate
Joined
16 Sep 2014
Posts
1,751
Location
West Yorkshire
I'm just coming to the end of an 18 month contract so have been looking today at new deals. Couldnt believe that a lot of firms are now doing 3 year contracts, 18 months was bad enough.
Its no longer a phone contract in a traditional sense, its basically a loan deal on an expensive handset nowadays! The prices are crazy, PCP for phones.
 
Caporegime
Joined
21 Jun 2006
Posts
38,372
in home cinema someone said spec me a 55" tv for £400. and i said that any tv of that size and price new would be garbage and i was told that wasn't true. but it is. it wouldn't do 10 bit HDR, likely have a terrible panel with bleed, blooming, DSE, all sorts of issues. crappy electronics and poor smart offerings.

sure a £400 tv can still display a picture but it's not the same thing.

tv's go up to £100K though. 98inch OLED's for example. there are a lot more people buying flagship phones than there are flagship tv's because it's pay monthly. when you package something as pay monthly then people will spend more.

also phones nowadays are pretty much a status symbol for this generation and the sheep. they use them everyday so to them £60 a month is nothing. tbh they spend £100 a month on their sky packages so in keeping with that it's probably a fair price.

i'll never spend more than £300 on a phone and i'll stick to stuff like samsung A70 or second hand. i tried cheap chinese phones and their software sucked. a lot of the obscure apps i use weren't compatible.
 
Associate
Joined
18 Jun 2019
Posts
36
I always thought it was because manufacturers have the guts to do so. And it has worked for products like the iPhone. No matter how absurd the prices go for the latest model you will always hear of people lining up ahead of the release just to grab em first.
 
Soldato
Joined
9 Apr 2007
Posts
13,453
Never paid more than £20 for a phone... and then only because it was £20 a month for the phone, plus 100GB of data, unlimited txts and calls, all included...

But many thanks to those who did pay more, as it made my 'flagship' model wonderfully cheap!!
Maths fail. Lol
 
Soldato
Joined
9 Apr 2007
Posts
13,453
My existing contract was £20 SIM-only for 1GB, unlimited texts and 1,000 minutes.
I was offered an upgrade, to carry on paying the same price for 100GB, unlimited text and unlimited minutes, with the phone thrown in for a one-off payment of £20.
The phone cost me £20. How is that a maths fail? Lol.
Who are you with that gives you basically a free phone.
 
Back
Top Bottom