The majority of flagship Android phones sold in 2-3 years will be under $400?

[EbookReader]

The majority of flagship Android phones sold in 2-3 years will be under $400 off-contract?

Fact or Fiction?

This is already a FACT in the world biggest and third biggest smartphone market. China and India. Will it also become a norm in the West also by 2017/2018?

 

[maflynn]

Most phones have been under 400 bucks, thanks to subsidization.

 

[EbookReader]

Most phones have been under 400 bucks, thanks to subsidization.

Sorry. I will edit the first post.

I mean off contract /unlocked prices.

 

[skratch77]

You can get a unlocked note 4 in China for 400?

 

[maflynn]

Sorry. I will edit the first post.

I mean off contract /unlocked prices.

Gotcha, thanks for the clarification. I also understand subsidized pricing (while a dying breed) is mostly a US thing anyways.

 

[EbookReader]

You can get a unlocked note 4 in China for 400?

majority sold.

aka more than half of the high end Android phones sold in China and India are under $400.

For example, Note 4 at $800+
Xiaomi Note at $369 with similar specs

and

Galaxy S5 at $700+
Xiaomi Mi4 at $300 with similar specs

It is easy to see which one will gain market share and which will lose market share.


With Huawei and Lenovo and OnePlus also getting into the selling "high end device at low profit margin ONLINE" game, Samsung will lose a lot of market share in China in the near future.

 

[skratch77]

Those cloned phones are only sold in China because they won't get sued.the second those phones get sold in UK or usa they will get raped in court by Google samsung and apple.

So no its not a fact that most flagship phones are already 400.

 

[mojolicious]

The majority of flagship Android phones sold in 2-3 years will be under $400 off-contract?

Fact or Fiction?

Fiction.

Although in 2–3 years the capabilities and build quality of sub $400 phones will be so good that many (more) people will start to question their actual requirement for a flagship phone.

 

[AndriOS871221]

majority sold.

aka more than half of the high end Android phones sold in China and India are under $400.

For example, Note 4 at $800+
Xiaomi Note at $369 with similar specs

and

Galaxy S5 at $700+
Xiaomi Mi4 at $300 with similar specs

It is easy to see which one will gain market share and which will lose market share.


With Huawei and Lenovo and OnePlus also getting into the selling "high end device at low profit margin ONLINE" game, Samsung will lose a lot of market share in China in the near future.

Those phone makers only have presents inside China. You can hardly find them in wesrern markets. Price would drop significantly when these OEMs moving to western markets. Then they are facing all shorts of patents lawsuits, they also need play games with carriers etc. It is gonna be difficult for them have dent on western market. By the way, all the Chinese phone sold through third part online retailers, the prices are bumppes pretty high. So it is really not worth the trouble.

Also when you sell an unlocked phone for 400 dollars, it is hard to complete with phone selling under 200 dollar with subsides. People are looking at upfront cost more than potential cost.

 

[Rogifan]

So who survives if flagship off contract phones are $400 or less? How do these OEMs make money (outside of places like China) when people are tied into Google's services/ecosystem?

 

[EbookReader]

Those cloned phones are only sold in China because they won't get sued.the second those phones get sold in UK or usa they will get raped in court by Google samsung and apple.

So no its not a fact that most flagship phones are already 400.

I didn't said most. I said "majority" meaning more than half.

As for the lawsuits, OnePlus, Huawei, Lenovo, Coolpad are selling in Western markets. Essential patents are all licensed. Xiaomi will expand to the Western market one day. They be crazy not to.



p.s.

It's getting very competitive in India also. Even more so with Xiaomi and OnePlus expanding to India to compete with the local brands.

https://www.techinasia.com/2013-list-new-asian-homegrown-smartphone-brands/

Flagship phone: Micromax Canvas Nitro A310 has a 5-inch 720p HD screen; 1.7 GHz octa-core Mediatek MT6592 processor; 2GB RAM; 13MP rear camera and a 5MP front one; Android 4.4; costs US$215 for the 8GB model.

Flagship phone: Karbonn Titanium Octane Plus has a 5-inch 1080p HD screen; 1.7 GHz MediaTek octa-core processor; 13MP rear camera and 8MP front one; Android 4.4; costs $240 unlocked.

Flagship phone: Xolo 8X-1000 has a 5-inch 1080p HD screen; 2 GHz octa-core MediaTek MT6592T processor; 2GB RAM; 13MP rear camera and a 5MP front one; Android 4.4; costs US$330 for the 16GB iteration.

 

[AndriOS871221]

Those cloned phones are only sold in China because they won't get sued.the second those phones get sold in UK or usa they will get raped in court by Google samsung and apple.

So no its not a fact that most flagship phones are already 400.

They would just like how Samsung and HTC got sued by Apple. They will start adopting in western market and still maintaining low prices. They will likely the dominant force just like Samsung.

When Sony started expanding their market, they were faced exactly same thing, lawsuits and pantent dispute did not stop them.

 

[AGX]

But... how many people like to be "spied" from android?

I prefer spent 500 dollar and take an iPhone with clear privacy policy

 

[EbookReader]

So who survives if flagship off contract phones are $400 or less? How do these OEMs make money (outside of places like China) when people are tied into Google's services/ecosystem?

It can be done. Here's a profitable flagship Android phone and its prices.

OnePlus One has a 5.5-inch 1080p HD screen; 2.5 GHz Snapdragon 801 processor; 3GB RAM; 13MP back camera and a 5MP front one; Android 4.4; costs US$299 (16GB) or $349 (64GB) unlocked.

According to OnePlus, they are making a profit on each phone sold.

Places where they sell them.

North America

Canada (US site)

United States

Europe

Österreich

België

Belgique

Danmark

Suomi

France

Deutschland

Italia

Nederland

Portugal

España

Sverige

United Kingdom


Asia Pacific

Hong Kong (English)

India

China

 

[skratch77]

Those phones don't even have google services they are unsupported phones.

Oh I tried to buy a one plus one and the site said I need an invite to buy one or wait in the lottery or something like that.

Great marketing lol go try to buy one right now and tell me how that works out.

 

[EbookReader]

Also when you sell an unlocked phone for 400 dollars, it is hard to complete with phone selling under 200 dollar with subsides. People are looking at upfront cost more than potential cost.

Not when AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint sell flagship phones with $0 down. $0 down versus $199.

These carriers all have no-subsidy plans now.

T-Mobile moved away from subsidies completely. More than half of AT&T customers are now on no subsidy. More than 30% of Verizon and Sprint as well.

The trend in the USA is toward no subsidy.

 

[Rogifan]

It can be done. Here's a profitable flagship Android phone and its prices.

OnePlus One has a 5.5-inch 1080p HD screen; 2.5 GHz Snapdragon 801 processor; 3GB RAM; 13MP back camera and a 5MP front one; Android 4.4; costs US$299 (16GB) or $349 (64GB) unlocked.

According to OnePlus, they are making a profit on each phone sold.

Do you have any information on how profitable they are? I'm assuming they're not a public company so they don't have to disclose that information. I'd also love to know how much they spend on R&D and patents.

 

[EbookReader]

Those phones don't even have google services they are unsupported phones.

Oh I tried to buy a one plus one and the site said I need an invite to buy one or wait in the lottery or something like that.

Great marketing lol go try to buy one right now and tell me how that works out.

It's VERY easy to get an OnePlus One invite now.

They are plentiful.


p.s. COMPETITION among smartphone companies will be good for consumers.

Look at the competition among TV companies.

40" LED HDTV 5 years ago was around $700-$800, now you can buy one for half that price.

Look at prices for laptop.

Streaming sticks (Chromecast, Roku Stick, Amazon Fire Stick)

 

[jamezr]

I didn't said most. I said "majority" meaning more than half.

As for the lawsuits, OnePlus, Huawei, Lenovo, Coolpad are selling in Western markets. Essential patents are all licensed. Xiaomi will expand to the Western market one day. They be crazy not to.



p.s.

It's getting very competitive in India also. Even more so with Xiaomi and OnePlus expanding to India to compete with the local brands.

https://www.techinasia.com/2013-list-new-asian-homegrown-smartphone-brands/

Flagship phone: Micromax Canvas Nitro A310 has a 5-inch 720p HD screen; 1.7 GHz octa-core Mediatek MT6592 processor; 2GB RAM; 13MP rear camera and a 5MP front one; Android 4.4; costs US$215 for the 8GB model.

Flagship phone: Karbonn Titanium Octane Plus has a 5-inch 1080p HD screen; 1.7 GHz MediaTek octa-core processor; 13MP rear camera and 8MP front one; Android 4.4; costs $240 unlocked.

Flagship phone: Xolo 8X-1000 has a 5-inch 1080p HD screen; 2 GHz octa-core MediaTek MT6592T processor; 2GB RAM; 13MP rear camera and a 5MP front one; Android 4.4; costs US$330 for the 16GB iteration.

But that does not address the blatant copies he mentioned. If they bring those to the other major markets they will get sued. The phones you mentioned have not sold well in the US or other major markets. They might do well in India or Asia. But not in other major markets.

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

The majority of flagship Android phones sold in 2-3 years will be under $400 off-contract?

Fact or Fiction?

This is already a FACT in the world biggest and third biggest smartphone market. China and India. Will it also become a norm in the West also by 2017/2018?

Replace the word "flagship" with "good spec phones" and I agree.

 

[MRU]

The majority of flagship Android phones sold in 2-3 years will be under $400?

The majority of flagship Android phones sold in 2-3 years will be under $400 off-contract?

Fact or Fiction?

This is already a FACT in the world biggest and third biggest smartphone market. China and India. Will it also become a norm in the West also by 2017/2018?

More great statistics from the guy who brought us OnePlus One to sell over 1 million per month, 20 million in a year .....


You = Take a premise which excludes VAT, TAX, shipping & logistics, marketing, cost of living and average wages/income in the West, and simply apply it.....

Business and pricing doesn't work that way.

 

[Savor]

It depends which continent you are asking.

In the Far East, most people have to live off prepaid and get phones at full unlocked prices. In the West, most rely on subsidiaries and contract upgrades. Also CDMA is quite big in US with Verizon and Sprint being #1 & #3, so people don't care for UNLOCKED devices. Here in Asia, prepaid, multi-sim, and owning multi-phones rule. Also the competition is much more fierce in Asia as there are like 3X more brands to choose from vs like the half dozen in the Western markets.

For me, it isn't fact or fiction. More of a maybe just because Asus (Taiwan) and Oppo (China) do offer phones under $500 outside Asia and you can NOT underestimate the CHINESE brands like Xiaomi Huawei, and Lenovo. Look at Sony. They never even had a presence with smartphones in the US but their name is far more recognized than the Chinese brands. Now Sony is looking to sell their mobile division from the pressures of the Chinese brands with far better competitive prices. Sony couldn't adapt in this price-driven market.

OnePlus One was quite a sellout and OnePlus wasn't even a year old company yet. Once Asus starts selling their Zenfone 2 in the West, the game changes again as people will start having second thoughts upgrading and being stuck on another expensive contract. And most diehard phone enthusiasts carry multiple devices, so the market is ripe for secondary phones under $200-$400.

 

[EbookReader]

More great statistics from the guy who brought us OnePlus One to sell over 1 million per month, 20 million in a year .....


You = Take a premise which excludes VAT, TAX, shipping & logistics, marketing, cost of living and average wages/income in the West, and simply apply it.....

Business and pricing doesn't work that way.

That 1 million is from the New York Times. Blame them for the incorrect extrapolation.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/09/t...ne-review-high-hopes-for-low-price-phone.html

While he would not provide exact sales numbers, Mr. Pei said the One was selling in the “mid-to-high four figures a day in the U.S.,” which he said constituted 30 percent of the company’s market. That would imply sales of 150,000 to 300,000 phones a month in the United States, and up to a million devices a month over all — a rounding error in the global smartphone business, but an admirable feat for a tiny, year-old start-up.


In China today, more than half of the flagship Android smartphones sold are under $400.

If a company like Oneplus can sell the OnePlus One for a profit, so can others. According to Oneplus, they make a profit on each phone sold.

“We’re making a single-figure dollar amount on each phone,” Pei told me.

http://www.androidauthority.com/oneplus-rom-544208/

Pete Lau also revealed that OnePlus is profitable and that it managed to ship close to a million OnePlus One units in a few months of limited availability. In the past, Lau said that he didn’t expect OnePlus to make a profit in its first year, so it seems that the good evolution of the One helped the young company beat its own expectations.

 

[Oohara]

That 1 million is from the New York Times. Blame them for the incorrect extrapolation.

It doesn't matter where the statement came from. The point is that YOU chose to make a whole thread based on it.

It's that never-ending stream of OPO-friendly novelty news items and tidbits from all corners of mobile media that YOU choose to post that are making your statistics look more than a little shady at this point.

 

[JaySoul]

Those cloned phones are only sold in China because they won't get sued.the second those phones get sold in UK or usa they will get raped in court by Google samsung and apple.

So no its not a fact that most flagship phones are already 400.

PLEASE do not use that phrase.