@@metaitachi Big companies are in a situation where they need to make *more* money every year. If they made 100 million this year, they have to make MORE next year in order to keep shareholders satisfied. So if they manage to make 110 million next time, than THAT will be the new expected minimum. And so on and so forth. That's why a company like Activision can announce record profits of $1.8 billion in 2018, and then lay off 800 employees in early 2019.
But mid range phones are also rising in prices. The Moto G4 cost $200, but the Moto G6 now costs $250. The OnePlus 3 cost $400 , but the latest 6T costs $550, almost as much as a flagship did a few years ago. The rise is a little slower, but it is still noticeable, especially as mid range phones start adding the "luxury" features as flagships such as a "bezel less" screen and multiple cameras.
Suspect folding phones still use the same operating system as other phones so what brand new tech is making it worth 2K plus? The hinge? Inferior screen to most phones?? You’re paying 2k to be a first adopter of potentially the next fad and that’s it. Making it no different to other phones
@Fefo Fefosa oled in itself is flexible, and touchscreens work by having your finger disrupt an electrical field around your screen, both of which were around in the 90s. All that stopped it was the costs, so no it's not new tech
did the verge just say the oneplus 6t costs $350?? maybe thats the tmobile price or something with more monthly costs but mine was $580 from oneplus's website
@@karaage7926 Jesus does New Zealand have an insane tax?! How much does a Note ( cost over there(new and 3rd party)? I can only imagine the price of iPhones over there. I am just curious and I am from the USA.
@@SirExtreme15 But you won't have some of the flagship features. If you just want speed then you could just buy the pocophones. Just trying to point that out. And the speed increases compared to previous years are now kind of slowing down and becoming less relevant. You should buy a thousand dollar phone if your use case needs it, you can afford it and can use some of its features. Most people would be fine with 300-400 dollar phones for their use case scenario. But some need and want a bit more for their specific use case scenario. Sorry for the long comment.
In India The Redmi Note 7 Pro starts at $200 The iPhone Xs Max starts at $2000 Average person earns $450 per month Has to pay rent/loans $120 Has to pay for food $100 Has to pay bills $50 Misc- $50 What will he most likely buy? Does he get 10x the phone for 10x the money? Even if one buys an iPhone today. By the times he finishes paying for it in EMI's it will be outdated and even the cheap midrangers easily outperform it with more features
Come in Punjab my friend 😆. People are crazy for iphones. A person might own a splendor bike but will have iPhone X 😆 . I saw an Auto Rickshaw driver with iPhone 6s
Market stopped growing they trying to squeeze the customers that still upgrade all the time. Last time I upgrade. I'm keeping my phone until it breaks than buying the cheapest one I can find!
I purchased a Pixel 3 XL because after the 3 years of security updates i know i can flash Lineage OS on it and keep it for at least another 2-3 years so that $999 over 6 years is roughly $14 a month, as long as the battery can be replaced by a knowledgable technician I might be able to get even more life out of my phone. What i really believe needs to be done to justify these prices is offering 4-5 years of updates like Apple does (you can run iOS 12 runs on the iPhone 5s released in 2013) so your ROI is better. That's why i will only buy unlocked devices with unlocked bootloaders from now on.
Phones got expensive because... Apple could not sell more phones and yet could not cut down profits and let investor feel bad... So they began increasing prices to keep the profit up... That's the reason prices got high..!
Another option is getting a lightly used flagship.Bought myself a Note 8 in perfect condition for $260 just a few weeks back. Had I not valued the pen a S8 can be found around the $200 mark with very similar specification. Ten years ago buying a year old phone meant getting far worse performance. Today the difference is almost non-existent. I have bought a few cheaper phones as well but they all seem to miss what the flagships offered a year before.
I'm still using a Nexus 6. I'll upgrade sometime this year but my phone still does everything I want it to do, has a headphone jack, 64gb internal memory and a 4K screen.
The Verge is out of touch. They cost so much because companies (both manufacturers and carriers) are greedy beyond anything I have ever seen, that's the big picture.
How do you combat the Verge's quantitative points then, concerning their price adjustment of earlier iPhone models being similar to that of current ones? Of course businesses are greedy, but that has always been the case. The biggest reason is the smartphone market is saturated and companies' crutch on smartphone sales has been taken away, so they must compensate with more expensive phones. Assuming the market wasn't already saturated, they'd most likely make more money selling cheaper phones, as evidenced by literally by their initial strategy
@@XX-pp3bx You can't just write off "greed" as "they were always greedy" when that very greed is the crux of the price hikes. You guys make it sound like these companies are struggling to survive under some "market saturation", while seem oblivious to the obvious fact that they post record breaking profits quarter after quarter. The prices are going up because they know they can squeeze more money out of the economy. If they reduced prices by $250 per flagship, they would still post record profits, that's how much money they are swimming in. Remember, corporations also get massive federal and state subsidies, corporate welfare, and not to mention the recent massive corporate tax cut. After all this help from the government they still pretend to struggle while charging high prices for the ultimate single goal of increased riches. They are unbelievably greedy and that's the bottomline, forget market saturation.
@@sakitech The very purpose of business is to make money, and adjusting their strategies to maximize their profits. That's not "greed", that's business 101. By calling them "out of touch" you're actually proving how out of touch you are.
@@mordor423 Nah, you sound like a typical automaton who thinks business is defined by your entry level college business 101 class. sakitech is 100% right. They are greedy bastards who swallow all funds from governments (taxpayer money) because they bribe the politicians who write legislations and on top of that raise prices. Both the verge and you are out of touch with reality, sakitech is just thinking on a higher level which is wasted on business 101 minded simpletons.
Yes, you notice he provided facts for a few models , but when he compared the iPhone from 2011 to the Xr (not the Xs Max but the cheapest one) he just says "which probably cost about the same to make ". He is comparing the top end iPhone of 2011 to the cheapest of last year. Plus he didn't actually specify the cost of production
In the end it all comes down to corporate greed. "Our economy is at war with many forms of life on earth, including human life. What the climate needs to avoid collapse is a contraction in humanity’s use of resources; what our economic model demands to avoid collapse is unfettered expansion. Only one of these sets of rules can be changed, and it’s not the laws of nature.” - Naomi Klein
Vuthy Va ---- When I get a new iPhone every year, my old iPhone continues to be used by someone else often for a long time because Apple continues updates for 5 or more years. Apple is committed to recycling materials and eventually getting to a point where no minerals are mined in the making of Apple products.
Low competition is also the reason companies like Apple can do whatever they wants.Let Oppo and Huawei operate in us and you will see prices going down.
Forgot to mention tech also gets less expensive as time goes on. You can't tell me Apple 720p LCD screen still costs as much to produce as it did over 6-7 years ago. Hardware components are also removed in some models which should account for the new parts added. This substitute should not account for such a price increase. And lets not forget the 5W charger that should be upgraded to 9W or 15W for fast charging. Profit is the main goal here.
It's about the camera, it's one of the main selling points. Most low end and high end can perform task pretty much the same, but camera is where you see where the money is worth
If you think about it, a thousand a year isn't too much for something you depend on every single minute of the day and the fact is, most of us keep our phones within 3 feet ofbus all the time
800 was my limit but I stretched it for the “anniversary edition“. I will never buy a more expensive phone again. After taxes and the insane conversion rates it is just prohibitively expensive in Europe.
They make billions of profit a year. Shareholders will also throw a tantrum if their profits don't grow. So they must grow perpetually. This is the economic system we have.
I think my upper limit, as a student whose phones mostly come from my parents buying them, would be about the price my mother paid for my current one: R$1000, which is about 250 dollars. It runs very smoothly, has a pretty nice battery life (often ending the day with 40% or so of the charge) and a memory good enough for what I use.
Along with buying a low cost phone and keeping it longer you can buy an expensive phone and *_know_* you won't be buying a new phone for 4+ years - once you get top of the line most improvements are incremental and many years later it's still _good enough_ - it's when you buy a cheap phone that you live with compromise and fall behind faster. The manufacturers charge what they think people will pay, then a few months later the price drops to adjust for expected sales, you _might_ get the same phone for 25% less a year later. Another factor is that the younger generation of workers wants to be paid fairly and advance themselves - to one day be able to afford the phone that they make.
@@grenwodirishwica That's why I bought an S9+, and am not tempted to buy any of the S10's. My phone is no slower after Pie and I'm still getting over 20 hours off a charge with several hours of heavy use per day - it's no different a year later, except I've got 15 GB of memory left; time to buy a microSDXC.
I bought the poco f1, everything is at top level and the replacement for any part is cheap af, and yeah, it cost 300, and will be still good after 3 years for sure. So, why and expensive iphone or samsung device?
@@bbc6rgf57ytty5yxyw5gt - Buy the best and keep it, and you're stuck with the best. Buy the cheapest and keep it, and you're stuck with the cheapest. I have a 10 year old Nokia N95 (with 5MP sensor and Carl Zeiss lenses) that still works perfectly, and an HTC M7 with a ballooned battery - they don't make 'em like they used to. I hope that in 10 years I don't look like a fool with my S9+ as a backup phone.
@@olasogaolu7011 i think it's because they know people won't upgrade even with slightly reduced prices. So they keep relying on the few to upgrade and charge them more to compensate the loses
Im using a Mi device too, RN5,with custom rom i have the same experience as using a oneplus and a pixel,development is beyond,budget phones are getting better and better!
Me too.... There's no reason to for Apple or Samsung... I live in Texas... Can just laugh at friends for spending so much money... My whole family uses xiaomi unlocked phones on an no contract plan.... Never gonna be sucker for their sponsorships or fanboys
@@superstarDJ537 you mean analytics and tracking? well of course, I'm sure of it. But I'm talking about REAL spying not tracking how long you are in specific websites or certain interests for targeted ads and stuff
@@mikeoxlong6351 Bro I got a MI A2 device for ₹11500 with the Android one programme installed on it. And, you can get several others with stock Android. Even Samsung makes mint phones for cheap prices in our region. Just look at the new M series and A series.
@@brychjakub Probably because the host only mentioned US statistics and not stats from all over the world (which would be time consuming to research, in my opinion)
Vishal Bhandure Well it is an American based channel. Plus if you discount the stuff about subsidized phones it still explains why phone prices have gone up in the past couple years
This channel is American centric.. because it's literally centered in America. Every host I've seen from them is American and the majority of their audience i could safely assume is also American. If you don't like American centric viewpoints, watch a channel based in your area of residence
Phones aren't expensive. I have a computer in my pocket that is more powerful than my desktop I had 10 years ago. The fact that smartphones are accessible to as many as they are is a modern miracle of technology and production.
Underrated logic! This is so true. Phones are doing so much more nowadays. They essentially are like laptops in our pockets with professional grade cameras and of course they're phones. All this combined into 1 device it's really almost underappreciated honestly.
Great video and it's very nice to hear other perspective other than 'companies are evil and greedy' I like a more professional, technical and accurate description of what's happening with prices and you just did that. Keep up the good work!
I lived in Portugal until 2005. When I came to Canada I hate that my only options were to be locked into a 2-year plan or pay a stupid amount for pay-as-you-go. I'm glad change happened.
Well mostly because they are removing support for phones,for example I have 5S and with iOS 13 they are removing support for 5S,SE,6S so most of the people that has those will upgrade including me.And that's A LOT of people since 6S is most selling Phone ever with old Nokias
Paco I don’t think iOS 13 will end support for phones with A8 or A9 chips. iOS 12 still supports A7 devices, so those will probably be dropped with iOS 13
Samsung was the one that made the price jump when the original Note came out, the Galaxy S line was $500 the Note was $800 from there bigger screen = more money
I bought my HTC U11 2017 new in March 2018 for $350. Newer phones are incremental updates. I buy the previous year's flagship for a fraction of the original price and get a great phone for it.
Question is do we need that much features? I'm using OP5 and only thing I miss is waterproofing but other than that ..I can easily go another year with that especially with ports and mods and root
Nah, I suspect most people don't need these features which end up feeling gimmicky. Companies just add them to differentiate themselves from the competition while also justifying a price increase.
What this video fails to mention is plans still cost just as much if not more than before. So even if carriers want to play off like the phone price was baked into service, at least you got a discounted phone out of it, sometimes significantly. Now you pay full price, maybe slightly discounted
Seems crazy that an iPhone Xs cost $999 but is also £999 in the UK, what happened to exchange rates? Seems the UK is paying almost £250 more for the same flagship phone
@@jevonsims900 yea people hopefully wise up and save money because technology updates too fast i use to work in the cell phone industry and when I really notice I left because people bend over backwards for the new shiny phone
budget phones are closing the gap between premium ones so since all phones are great the most compelling factor is the devices price which will push the other companies to lower their prices
"Phones do have a lot more stuff" except for all the useful stuff, like fingerprint sensors, headphone jacks, usable sized screens, durable casings, removable storage, well placed physical buttons, stereo speakers, and meaningful alternatives to Android and iOS.
@@skylake8123 to be fair they charge $300 for a $20 pair of headphones. and the material cost on an iPhone tops out at 350. So they grossly overcharge everyone make up for a lack of sales. When the sales were high they had a $99 dollar option. Now that sales have dropped, we have $1000 phones again.
Have had my 5s since launch. Replaced the battery last year. Does everything I need and the money I save goes toward stuff like travel, investing, a 4K tv. When this dies I’ll buy a couple gens back from the latest at a discount. Latest and greatest is a scam.
I completely disagree on the having to pay more for the best out there. The iPhone X was £1000 and the OnePlus 6 was faster to charge the camera was better it was faster with day to day tasks and was half that price with more internal storage. So your point is subjective and you should point that out. The only reason as of now the second Gen X iPhones are faster is the 7nm chipset but as soon as OnePlus or any cheaper competition get the newest 7nm Snapdragon in a phone at almost half the price. The point your paying more for the best out there is once again just not true
@@RackaApps Nah wouldn't get a 7 or 7+. Using an S8 and haven't gotten any problems. My sister in college keeps on complaining that her phone is so buggy.
If the iPhone X is still fast after 3-4 years, then it will have been worth $1000. Recent years SoCs are shaping up to be useful and quick many years after their release, compared to a few years ago.
0neofthem My iPhone 7 Plus is still as good as the day I bought it at launch. I’ve had a $30 battery replacement, which seems well worth it. I don’t see any reason why the X won’t last the same way.
They should really bring back the trade in programs for the new iPhones but like you get the phone for half off and you pay the rest monthly in your contract.
"Very necessary devices" 0:31 HAHAHAHA! Aside from texting and calling most other features on phones are not necessary. Classic 1st world propeganda leads us to believe we need much more technology and convenience than we really do.
wrong on many aspects: the phones are not getting more expensive (to make, market, ...) but rather the 10 companies making them are charging more out of pure speculative will and power to do so. there is not a free market, if the production of something is 100-200 CHF and the companies charged for it 500-600 CHF 1-2 years ago now suddenly all decide to charge 1000-1500 CHF for it. unfortunately, even by breaking laws by sync'ing their prices and robbing the customers, they still can do it as not many countries do anything about it - as they are also in it. sad.
what excuses?? if you spend more money is your fault... there are phones that are great and cheap, if you want premium phone, just pay premium price... what vitally important feature are you missing from buying an iphone 8 to an iphone Xs Max??...
I don't know why the people making videos like these always include R&D as one reason for the markup we see on phones. The purpose of R&D is to create better technology and the reason for creating better technology is to convince costumers to buy. I'm being charged to be convinced to buy your product? The reality is that if these companies could make the phones they make for $10, and be able to keep it a secret from us, then they would still keep hiking the price every year.
Groud Frank you will know when you work as R&D employee for a company. The pressure is hell high. And in accounting, everything that runs in company cause a cost. And cost need to be distributed to the product. Do you want to work so hard creating better technology for free?
This is irrelevant. The hard cost of producing flagship phones, without R&D or marketing and so on factored in, has more than doubled over the past few years. Why wouldn’t you expect flagship prices to follow in some way? Also, people are buying less smartphones, so the idea of selling cheap fast devices isn’t as sustainable as expensive high-end flagships.
Flagships are meant to be premium. They are expensive because they are supposed to be the best of the best. If you want a normal phone, get a j3 for 85 bucks.
I plan to buy a Galaxy after a few months. Same/better value at that point. The only thing I agree Oneplus is good at is their software but it seems like I like OneUI more(and even ExperienceUI more. Just personal preference).
I've been rocking a $130 Moto E4+ and it's honestly good enough. 720 Led screen,junk camera but what won me 5000mAHr battery. It lasts two days with medium use.
The yearly refresh cycle needs to stop. “Cellphones” need to go in the way of the computer. The yearly refresh is not gaining us any major breakthroughs anymore.
Correction: the OnePlus 6T costs $549, not $350, and the Moto G6 costs $250, not $180
The Verge moto g6 $180 at Costco you are right
Where i can oneplus 6t for that price?
Jeaf Ninja tmobile was selling oneplus phones for around 350
@@dravago17 in with state ?
Ha!
:because people want to make money, and consumers are paying
This is the comment for which we have clicked on this video
DJ 6113 i got you
So companies didn’t want to make money years ago?
metaitachi no they did that’s why they made phones and marketed them and profited
@@metaitachi Big companies are in a situation where they need to make *more* money every year. If they made 100 million this year, they have to make MORE next year in order to keep shareholders satisfied. So if they manage to make 110 million next time, than THAT will be the new expected minimum. And so on and so forth. That's why a company like Activision can announce record profits of $1.8 billion in 2018, and then lay off 800 employees in early 2019.
because midrange phones now are actually very decent, so flagship phones is more luxury than a must.
"Good phones are getting cheap, and cheap phones are getting good" - Marques Brownlee
@@fyre1307 -Markass Brownie*
But mid range phones are also rising in prices. The Moto G4 cost $200, but the Moto G6 now costs $250. The OnePlus 3 cost $400 , but the latest 6T costs $550, almost as much as a flagship did a few years ago. The rise is a little slower, but it is still noticeable, especially as mid range phones start adding the "luxury" features as flagships such as a "bezel less" screen and multiple cameras.
@@thetechconspiracy2 I don't know what data you are using, but it's wrong
@@thetechconspiracy2 I think the 6T counts as a Flagship of sorts.
Ok folding phones don't count. They use brand new technology and are available in limited quantities.
True.
Suspect folding phones still use the same operating system as other phones so what brand new tech is making it worth 2K plus? The hinge? Inferior screen to most phones??
You’re paying 2k to be a first adopter of potentially the next fad and that’s it. Making it no different to other phones
folding screens were around in the 90s lmao
@Fefo Fefosa oled in itself is flexible, and touchscreens work by having your finger disrupt an electrical field around your screen, both of which were around in the 90s. All that stopped it was the costs, so no it's not new tech
@@hibye-by3yb oleds are not flexible enough for a foldable phone.
"Apple is running out of people to sell iphone to.."
*Raise the price to $1000*
i totally agree with you
And people saying but I can't leave the ecosystem!
Meanwhile Samsung raises to $1700 and no samsung user can afford that LOL
@@silentfoxbestofasmongold2177 That's for the foldable phone tho, a mass majority of people are still content with regular smartphones
Young Dab-A-Roosa samsung s10+ 1tb is $1700 in Sweden
did the verge just say the oneplus 6t costs $350?? maybe thats the tmobile price or something with more monthly costs but mine was $580 from oneplus's website
Yeah pretty sure that was some sort of big mistake.
$760 in Australia!
$900 New Zealand Dollars!
@@karaage7926 Jesus does New Zealand have an insane tax?! How much does a Note ( cost over there(new and 3rd party)? I can only imagine the price of iPhones over there. I am just curious and I am from the USA.
The had a promotion with t mobile if you turned in an older one plus the new one is 350
Why phones are expensive? Well, don't buy the flagship phones, problem solved.
or flagship phones for less money (OP6T, ....).
Courage 🤑
Yeah !
Ghost noone yes that’s what the video concludes with. Thanks.
Fei Han 🤔 tell that to the apple fanboys
I miss the days when smartphone flagships were 600-700 dollars...
If you get a 700 smartphone, it will perform better than older flagships
That was just 2016 lol.
@@SirExtreme15 But you won't have some of the flagship features. If you just want speed then you could just buy the pocophones. Just trying to point that out. And the speed increases compared to previous years are now kind of slowing down and becoming less relevant. You should buy a thousand dollar phone if your use case needs it, you can afford it and can use some of its features. Most people would be fine with 300-400 dollar phones for their use case scenario. But some need and want a bit more for their specific use case scenario. Sorry for the long comment.
I think the fact that I see you so often means that we just have similar tastes in content. Hello, pal
i miss the day when we dont have smartphone
What's with the BS prices? A OnePlus 6t is $550, not $350. A Moto G6 is $250, not $180.
The G6 price is for the 32GB Amazon Prime version. It's $179 and comes with Amazon bloatware installed.
@@TheCharleseye No, that's for the G6 play, not the G6. They're not the same phone
He's clearly an iPhone fan. Tries to downplay the rest, just putting the OP6T in the same category as the Moto G6 shows you he doesn't know much.
Depends on where and when you purchased your phone.
US
In India
The Redmi Note 7 Pro starts at $200
The iPhone Xs Max starts at $2000
Average person earns $450 per month
Has to pay rent/loans $120
Has to pay for food $100
Has to pay bills $50
Misc- $50
What will he most likely buy?
Does he get 10x the phone for 10x the money?
Even if one buys an iPhone today. By the times he finishes paying for it in EMI's it will be outdated and even the cheap midrangers easily outperform it with more features
So true 😮😮
The iPhone xs Max doesn't start at $2000 in India. It is more like $1550.
Come in Punjab my friend 😆. People are crazy for iphones. A person might own a splendor bike but will have iPhone X 😆 . I saw an Auto Rickshaw driver with iPhone 6s
@@kabirsingh1000 i also own 6s plus bought broken for 5k fixed by swapping parts with icloud locked device😂
@@nipunsharma5351 i won't buy a 64gb device for that amount though
This guy is acting like he discovered the mystery of the universe while stating the most obvious simple facts
The art of presentation
@@israellai well said
U sound mad he was making an entertainment video and has subscribers 😂 try going outside sometime
Market stopped growing they trying to squeeze the customers that still upgrade all the time. Last time I upgrade. I'm keeping my phone until it breaks than buying the cheapest one I can find!
I got the same plan hoping to get 5+ years out of my current phone if im lucky
I purchased a Pixel 3 XL because after the 3 years of security updates i know i can flash Lineage OS on it and keep it for at least another 2-3 years so that $999 over 6 years is roughly $14 a month, as long as the battery can be replaced by a knowledgable technician I might be able to get even more life out of my phone.
What i really believe needs to be done to justify these prices is offering 4-5 years of updates like Apple does (you can run iOS 12 runs on the iPhone 5s released in 2013) so your ROI is better. That's why i will only buy unlocked devices with unlocked bootloaders from now on.
@@hwfq34fajw9foiffawdiufhuaiwfhw yeah but you don't have to deal with the US carriers
Elvin deSouza have a iPhone 6 that I’ve had since it came out replaced the battery last year before I bought the XR and I still use it as a backup lol
Phones got expensive because... Apple could not sell more phones and yet could not cut down profits and let investor feel bad... So they began increasing prices to keep the profit up... That's the reason prices got high..!
True..!
They are not going to last forever
Not all smartphones are iPhones
Skylake81 I disagree. They purchase millions of units there’s no way each unit costs $500
And what about samsung?
Because the flagships need reasons to prevent people from going to the midrange or even entry-level phones, which do 90% of the stuff.
🤣 Correct
At that logic, people shouldn't buy phones beyond $300-$400. That would even make the coveted OnePlus phones bad for most people in terms of value.
Actually mid-rangers do 100% of the stuff, just 90% as good. It's very sad that people are willing to pay a grand for this.
Mr. Doge thanks for your input Mr. Doge
What’s your price limit for a smartphone?
600 €
600$
Note 8 600$ 😂
4000 Czk = 180 $
About 500 to 600 euros. I buy a flagship a year after it has been out and with cashback deals.
Yeah i stop buying flagships.
Good phones might not getting cheaper, but cheap phones are definitely getting better.
Another option is getting a lightly used flagship.Bought myself a Note 8 in perfect condition for $260 just a few weeks back. Had I not valued the pen a S8 can be found around the $200 mark with very similar specification. Ten years ago buying a year old phone meant getting far worse performance. Today the difference is almost non-existent. I have bought a few cheaper phones as well but they all seem to miss what the flagships offered a year before.
I'm still using a Nexus 6. I'll upgrade sometime this year but my phone still does everything I want it to do, has a headphone jack, 64gb internal memory and a 4K screen.
Both the nexus 6 and 6p have a 1440p screen, which is 2k. But it is just enough for a smartphone.
Anything over 400$ seems OP to me.
Except OnePlus IMO.
6:20 The Oneplus 6T is not 350$
Immediately came here to find out who else is seeing that.
Alex Korocencev - used it is
Mine was $280 with the trade in offer 😁
I wish it were $350!
Are you talking international prices, US prices, EU, Asia?
My phone is $100 and I won't cry if I drop it accidentally 😂
but you'll cry when it lags
@@ANUJGROVER01 Some of us don't mind a little stutter.😊
Samsung galaxy sky $100 and still going strong 2+ years later.
Just got the s10+ 1 tb at $1600. I won't cry if I drop it either because I'm not broke like those peasants buying iPhones 😂😂😂
@ಠ_ ಠ Not a fan of the Fold's look.
The OnePlus 6T is actually $550, not $350 as mentioned in the video
The Verge is out of touch. They cost so much because companies (both manufacturers and carriers) are greedy beyond anything I have ever seen, that's the big picture.
How do you combat the Verge's quantitative points then, concerning their price adjustment of earlier iPhone models being similar to that of current ones? Of course businesses are greedy, but that has always been the case. The biggest reason is the smartphone market is saturated and companies' crutch on smartphone sales has been taken away, so they must compensate with more expensive phones. Assuming the market wasn't already saturated, they'd most likely make more money selling cheaper phones, as evidenced by literally by their initial strategy
@@XX-pp3bx You can't just write off "greed" as "they were always greedy" when that very greed is the crux of the price hikes. You guys make it sound like these companies are struggling to survive under some "market saturation", while seem oblivious to the obvious fact that they post record breaking profits quarter after quarter. The prices are going up because they know they can squeeze more money out of the economy. If they reduced prices by $250 per flagship, they would still post record profits, that's how much money they are swimming in. Remember, corporations also get massive federal and state subsidies, corporate welfare, and not to mention the recent massive corporate tax cut. After all this help from the government they still pretend to struggle while charging high prices for the ultimate single goal of increased riches. They are unbelievably greedy and that's the bottomline, forget market saturation.
@@sakitech The very purpose of business is to make money, and adjusting their strategies to maximize their profits. That's not "greed", that's business 101. By calling them "out of touch" you're actually proving how out of touch you are.
@@mordor423 Nah, you sound like a typical automaton who thinks business is defined by your entry level college business 101 class. sakitech is 100% right. They are greedy bastards who swallow all funds from governments (taxpayer money) because they bribe the politicians who write legislations and on top of that raise prices. Both the verge and you are out of touch with reality, sakitech is just thinking on a higher level which is wasted on business 101 minded simpletons.
Yes, you notice he provided facts for a few models , but when he compared the iPhone from 2011 to the Xr (not the Xs Max but the cheapest one) he just says "which probably cost about the same to make ". He is comparing the top end iPhone of 2011 to the cheapest of last year.
Plus he didn't actually specify the cost of production
That's why brand like Xiaomi are growing 🤑🤑🤑
Their device bloated with ads. Yeah users can turn it off but for how long? they will change the rules.
@@hbudiman14 Just look at the MI A2/A2 lite. These are pure Android phones, so they are not at all bloated and they cost around 200€.
@Ens but a costumer why should care about xiaomi's stock? Good phone for normal price.
If they raise price, the average costumers buying meizu.
Samsung Galaxy M series is around 200
They're growing because they steal technology from the legitimate players.
Your reasons are valid only in USA, expected in global market
Where can I get the OP6T for $350?
I think they messed up the pricing.
You can get the lg g7 for like around like 300
@@nickgenardi6019 But, that isn't a OP6T, so why would we care?
In the end it all comes down to corporate greed.
"Our economy is at war with many forms of life on earth, including human life. What the climate needs to avoid collapse is a contraction in humanity’s use of resources; what our economic model demands to avoid collapse is unfettered expansion. Only one of these sets of rules can be changed, and it’s not the laws of nature.” - Naomi Klein
Don't buy new phone often to save environment
Vuthy Va ---- When I get a new iPhone every year, my old iPhone continues to be used by someone else often for a long time because Apple continues updates for 5 or more years. Apple is committed to recycling materials and eventually getting to a point where no minerals are mined in the making of Apple products.
Low competition is also the reason companies like Apple can do whatever they wants.Let Oppo and Huawei operate in us and you will see prices going down.
Forgot to mention tech also gets less expensive as time goes on. You can't tell me Apple 720p LCD screen still costs as much to produce as it did over 6-7 years ago.
Hardware components are also removed in some models which should account for the new parts added. This substitute should not account for such a price increase. And lets not forget the 5W charger that should be upgraded to 9W or 15W for fast charging. Profit is the main goal here.
It's about the camera, it's one of the main selling points. Most low end and high end can perform task pretty much the same, but camera is where you see where the money is worth
If you think about it, a thousand a year isn't too much for something you depend on every single minute of the day and the fact is, most of us keep our phones within 3 feet ofbus all the time
800 was my limit but I stretched it for the “anniversary edition“. I will never buy a more expensive phone again.
After taxes and the insane conversion rates it is just prohibitively expensive in Europe.
It's a simple answer: corporate greed
Headphoneguy96 exactly. They are not satisfied even with billions of dollars
They make billions of profit a year. Shareholders will also throw a tantrum if their profits don't grow. So they must grow perpetually. This is the economic system we have.
I think I'm happy with a $100 midrange phone. If it works, it works.
I think my upper limit, as a student whose phones mostly come from my parents buying them, would be about the price my mother paid for my current one: R$1000, which is about 250 dollars. It runs very smoothly, has a pretty nice battery life (often ending the day with 40% or so of the charge) and a memory good enough for what I use.
Along with buying a low cost phone and keeping it longer you can buy an expensive phone and *_know_* you won't be buying a new phone for 4+ years - once you get top of the line most improvements are incremental and many years later it's still _good enough_ - it's when you buy a cheap phone that you live with compromise and fall behind faster.
The manufacturers charge what they think people will pay, then a few months later the price drops to adjust for expected sales, you _might_ get the same phone for 25% less a year later.
Another factor is that the younger generation of workers wants to be paid fairly and advance themselves - to one day be able to afford the phone that they make.
Till they roll out an update and slow down your programming. Just ask apple about how they do that so you buy a new phone every year
@@grenwodirishwica That's why I bought an S9+, and am not tempted to buy any of the S10's.
My phone is no slower after Pie and I'm still getting over 20 hours off a charge with several hours of heavy use per day - it's no different a year later, except I've got 15 GB of memory left; time to buy a microSDXC.
I bought the poco f1, everything is at top level and the replacement for any part is cheap af, and yeah, it cost 300, and will be still good after 3 years for sure. So, why and expensive iphone or samsung device?
Even low cost phones last a decent amount of times these days. Most people get a new phone just because they want to.
@@bbc6rgf57ytty5yxyw5gt - Buy the best and keep it, and you're stuck with the best.
Buy the cheapest and keep it, and you're stuck with the cheapest.
I have a 10 year old Nokia N95 (with 5MP sensor and Carl Zeiss lenses) that still works perfectly, and an HTC M7 with a ballooned battery - they don't make 'em like they used to.
I hope that in 10 years I don't look like a fool with my S9+ as a backup phone.
"two dauson dollars"
The smartphone market is saturated, thats the main reason. look up Porter
But if the market is saturated, won't the prices decrease? Excess supply leads to fall in prices.🤔
Sidharth Manakil my thoughts exactly. In fact, the market is over saturated and prices should begin to fall but for some reason that isn’t the case.
@@olasogaolu7011 well cost of making phones are going up
@@olasogaolu7011 i think it's because they know people won't upgrade even with slightly reduced prices. So they keep relying on the few to upgrade and charge them more to compensate the loses
I'm still with my Pocophone F1 for $300 and honestly, it's soooo goooood
Im using a Mi device too, RN5,with custom rom i have the same experience as using a oneplus and a pixel,development is beyond,budget phones are getting better and better!
Me too.... There's no reason to for Apple or Samsung... I live in Texas... Can just laugh at friends for spending so much money... My whole family uses xiaomi unlocked phones on an no contract plan.... Never gonna be sucker for their sponsorships or fanboys
We got the coolest phones in Southern Asia for dirt cheap prices.
lol omw to southeast asia.
Dirt cheap in exchange for installed spyware 😂
@@mikeoxlong6351 In the US, the majority of your broadband and cellular service providers know pretty much everything you do and sell that data.
@@superstarDJ537 you mean analytics and tracking? well of course, I'm sure of it. But I'm talking about REAL spying not tracking how long you are in specific websites or certain interests for targeted ads and stuff
@@mikeoxlong6351 Bro I got a MI A2 device for ₹11500 with the Android one programme installed on it. And, you can get several others with stock Android. Even Samsung makes mint phones for cheap prices in our region. Just look at the new M series and A series.
just mention that as usual, this is damn american centric study vid in the title.
Vishal Bhandure in what way?
@@brychjakub Probably because the host only mentioned US statistics and not stats from all over the world (which would be time consuming to research, in my opinion)
Vishal Bhandure Well it is an American based channel. Plus if you discount the stuff about subsidized phones it still explains why phone prices have gone up in the past couple years
This channel is American centric.. because it's literally centered in America. Every host I've seen from them is American and the majority of their audience i could safely assume is also American. If you don't like American centric viewpoints, watch a channel based in your area of residence
Vishal Bhandure ----- Hey my man, don't like it? Start your own channel. UA-cam is a democracy.
Yay i got the best out there! Oh wait, where's the headphone jack?
Cheap phones keep getting better & better, flagships are just putting more unnecesary things so they can excuse the crazy prices.
I'm sorry but who thought they were only paying $200 for a phone when they had a contract for $60 a month. Everyone knew what they're paying for...
After a year the prices drop, got a new s9+ for 467$
Phones aren't expensive. I have a computer in my pocket that is more powerful than my desktop I had 10 years ago. The fact that smartphones are accessible to as many as they are is a modern miracle of technology and production.
Underrated logic! This is so true.
Phones are doing so much more nowadays. They essentially are like laptops in our pockets with professional grade cameras and of course they're phones. All this combined into 1 device it's really almost underappreciated honestly.
Cool video but maybe ditch the sideburns... actually definitely ditch the sideburns
TMO still has contracts. They just cleverly renamed them as "bill credits".
This video on OLED looks awesome
Because people won't buy a cheap phone
They always want an overpriced phone with popular brand 😒😒
Not really for most people its quality and we are using technology more so yeah.
Why does he look like Dr. Doofenshmirtz from Phineas and Ferb?
No he doesn't. Enough said.
No. He doesn't look like him
You're high
@@goofybear574 lol dude
I also vote no
Great video and it's very nice to hear other perspective other than 'companies are evil and greedy' I like a more professional, technical and accurate description of what's happening with prices and you just did that. Keep up the good work!
Anyone else notice Jake says "Thousand" wierd
Zaowzand
@@pro-ballers5559 lol. Almost.... Commendable effort.
I lived in Portugal until 2005. When I came to Canada I hate that my only options were to be locked into a 2-year plan or pay a stupid amount for pay-as-you-go. I'm glad change happened.
Well mostly because they are removing support for phones,for example I have 5S and with iOS 13 they are removing support for 5S,SE,6S so most of the people that has those will upgrade including me.And that's A LOT of people since 6S is most selling Phone ever with old Nokias
Paco I don’t think iOS 13 will end support for phones with A8 or A9 chips. iOS 12 still supports A7 devices, so those will probably be dropped with iOS 13
just dont upgrade. who needs the newest ios
Samsung was the one that made the price jump when the original Note came out, the Galaxy S line was $500 the Note was $800
from there bigger screen = more money
Even on a 2 year plan the S line was $200 the Note was $300
More profit is the main motive for increasing phones prices.
haider hlsk with a speck of intelligence you'll realize there's more to it
2:30 that’s why it’s good to just save up and pay off the phone in full at once
first and only reason: apple started doing it
2:12 Yep. I remember in the age of the iPhone 7 or 8, I think, you could see prices around $800 unlocked.
The only one qualified to tell me why something is something from the verge is Dieter Bohn
Dieter Bohlen doesn';t do stats and market analysis. he reviews products
Way to suckup to phone companies. They just take high profit for each phone they make. Around 50- 70%. That's why they are so damn high.
The Verge: **swears in the title**
UA-cam:
*_D E M O N E T I Z E D_*
They're not even swearing lol but i agree
Damn is only a swear word if you're Ned Flanders.
Darren Alexander I know, but some people consider it bad, and I didn’t know what else to call it. A semi-swear word? A non-PG word?
I bought my HTC U11 2017 new in March 2018 for $350. Newer phones are incremental updates. I buy the previous year's flagship for a fraction of the original price and get a great phone for it.
Big Picture? Only for folks from US
Question is do we need that much features?
I'm using OP5 and only thing I miss is waterproofing but other than that ..I can easily go another year with that especially with ports and mods and root
Nah, I suspect most people don't need these features which end up feeling gimmicky. Companies just add them to differentiate themselves from the competition while also justifying a price increase.
Just buy older models. Honestly, there aren't much innovations.
What this video fails to mention is plans still cost just as much if not more than before. So even if carriers want to play off like the phone price was baked into service, at least you got a discounted phone out of it, sometimes significantly. Now you pay full price, maybe slightly discounted
My phone cost me $200 of my own money, thank you very much.
Seems crazy that an iPhone Xs cost $999 but is also £999 in the UK, what happened to exchange rates? Seems the UK is paying almost £250 more for the same flagship phone
Iim still rocking a LG v30 unlocked does what I need to do I'm done buying these expensive phones for them to do the same thing as last year 😅😂🤣
Same
Same here, they lose value too fast for me to justify spending over $300.00 for one.
@@jevonsims900 yea people hopefully wise up and save money because technology updates too fast i use to work in the cell phone industry and when I really notice I left because people bend over backwards for the new shiny phone
Good choice. Superb DAC.
@@alexanderg1935 definitely that's why I got it I love it
budget phones are closing the gap between premium ones so since all phones are great the most compelling factor is the devices price which will push the other companies to lower their prices
Yeah phones are expensive but having a flagship is dope as hell
Flagships aren't as impressive as they were before nowadays..!
"Phones do have a lot more stuff" except for all the useful stuff, like fingerprint sensors, headphone jacks, usable sized screens, durable casings, removable storage, well placed physical buttons, stereo speakers, and meaningful alternatives to Android and iOS.
It's expensive because it's an overpriced product I don't think it's a mystery. 🤷🏼♂️
Just like all apple products
@@skylake8123 to be fair they charge $300 for a $20 pair of headphones. and the material cost on an iPhone tops out at 350. So they grossly overcharge everyone make up for a lack of sales. When the sales were high they had a $99 dollar option. Now that sales have dropped, we have $1000 phones again.
Have had my 5s since launch. Replaced the battery last year. Does everything I need and the money I save goes toward stuff like travel, investing, a 4K tv. When this dies I’ll buy a couple gens back from the latest at a discount. Latest and greatest is a scam.
I completely disagree on the having to pay more for the best out there. The iPhone X was £1000 and the OnePlus 6 was faster to charge the camera was better it was faster with day to day tasks and was half that price with more internal storage. So your point is subjective and you should point that out.
The only reason as of now the second Gen X iPhones are faster is the 7nm chipset but as soon as OnePlus or any cheaper competition get the newest 7nm Snapdragon in a phone at almost half the price. The point your paying more for the best out there is once again just not true
My dad and I got 2 iPhone XRs for $750 (for two) and about 3 years of use until the next upgrade comes out to $125 per year. Not bad in my opinion
*512 GB iPhone Xs Max costs $2000 in India*
Yes people still buying xD
@Drug Dealer Ftw no sir , 512GB costs 1.44 Lakh INR = $2000(apprx)
@@Perfect_setup The taxes are not the reason it's apple.
Note 9 costs 960$ in India ..
And the samsung phones have similar pricing(+ - $30)..
Saransh Bibiyan Samsung manufactures in India. Apple doesn’t
So listen up ,I don't need more than 1 camera on back of my phone, All I need is nice screen, excellent chipset, 4500Mah battery.
Simple if you are made of money than buy flagship phones if not then by old flagships or midrange phones
Krokus Krukus there are mind blowing phones for < 200.. look at galaxy j3
Galaxy J3? Umm, bad example. For $250 you can get a secondhand Galaxy S8
@@evergreen- or a brand new galaxy m20 i believe. Or even a second hand iPhone 7 or 6s Plus
@@RackaApps Nah wouldn't get a 7 or 7+. Using an S8 and haven't gotten any problems. My sister in college keeps on complaining that her phone is so buggy.
@@RackaApps the m20's even worse than the j7. We don't even talk about the m line, there's better things in that price point
my current phone costs $300, runs everything, works well, no need to upgrade till 5G mainstream.
If the iPhone X is still fast after 3-4 years, then it will have been worth $1000. Recent years SoCs are shaping up to be useful and quick many years after their release, compared to a few years ago.
Shouldn't the process and battery degenerate? That will lower its worth
0neofthem My iPhone 7 Plus is still as good as the day I bought it at launch. I’ve had a $30 battery replacement, which seems well worth it. I don’t see any reason why the X won’t last the same way.
My ipad mini 3 is still rockin to this day but the battery seems reduced. Idk why
Mayoo FM Because Li-Ion batteries only last for 300-1000 charge cycles.
Great video! It’s so hard explaining to my family why flagship phones are so expensive.
I know why iPhones are so expensive
Because the damn logo
I bought an infinix note 5 with android one when my moto g6 got broken glass
New phone cost some 130 USD.
Inner peace
Just buy Xiaomi phones, flagship-quality for half the price! Innovation for all.
AVAILABILITYY"
Innovation 😆😆🤣🤣🤣🤣
That near £800 sub hd LCD display though....paying for quality!!!!
this was hilarious back then my redmi note 7 for 200 bucks had a higher resolution (fhd +) screen than the 800 bucks iphone
TMobile's CEO is great. He has a Facebook live stream every Sunday calls slowcooker Sunday. He cooks when wearing a ridiculous apron. Just the best.
Reminds me of Norton
They should really bring back the trade in programs for the new iPhones but like you get the phone for half off and you pay the rest monthly in your contract.
"Very necessary devices" 0:31 HAHAHAHA! Aside from texting and calling most other features on phones are not necessary. Classic 1st world propeganda leads us to believe we need much more technology and convenience than we really do.
Good luck soing your school work without some kind of internet connected device!
wrong on many aspects: the phones are not getting more expensive (to make, market, ...) but rather the 10 companies making them are charging more out of pure speculative will and power to do so. there is not a free market, if the production of something is 100-200 CHF and the companies charged for it 500-600 CHF 1-2 years ago now suddenly all decide to charge 1000-1500 CHF for it. unfortunately, even by breaking laws by sync'ing their prices and robbing the customers, they still can do it as not many countries do anything about it - as they are also in it. sad.
I love how everyone is making video excuses for phone companies
It's explaining why the prices are so damn expensive not wether its right or wrong.
what excuses?? if you spend more money is your fault... there are phones that are great and cheap, if you want premium phone, just pay premium price... what vitally important feature are you missing from buying an iphone 8 to an iphone Xs Max??...
i live in europe and have owned 3 phones in the last 8 years. Always payed for them outright. First an s1, then an iphone 6 plus, now and xsmax.
I don't know why the people making videos like these always include R&D as one reason for the markup we see on phones. The purpose of R&D is to create better technology and the reason for creating better technology is to convince costumers to buy. I'm being charged to be convinced to buy your product?
The reality is that if these companies could make the phones they make for $10, and be able to keep it a secret from us, then they would still keep hiking the price every year.
Groud Frank you will know when you work as R&D employee for a company. The pressure is hell high. And in accounting, everything that runs in company cause a cost. And cost need to be distributed to the product.
Do you want to work so hard creating better technology for free?
This is irrelevant. The hard cost of producing flagship phones, without R&D or marketing and so on factored in, has more than doubled over the past few years. Why wouldn’t you expect flagship prices to follow in some way? Also, people are buying less smartphones, so the idea of selling cheap fast devices isn’t as sustainable as expensive high-end flagships.
Flagships are meant to be premium. They are expensive because they are supposed to be the best of the best. If you want a normal phone, get a j3 for 85 bucks.
OnePlus is the sweet spot for me presently.
Xiaomi,honor??
Meh the mi 9 that cost 480€ is better
@@poedameron8160 Mi 9 is incredibly good value.
One of the biggest strengths of OnePlus is their software though.
I plan to buy a Galaxy after a few months. Same/better value at that point. The only thing I agree Oneplus is good at is their software but it seems like I like OneUI more(and even ExperienceUI more. Just personal preference).
I've been rocking a $130 Moto E4+ and it's honestly good enough. 720 Led screen,junk camera but what won me 5000mAHr battery. It lasts two days with medium use.
Laughing while watching this on my Nokia 3310
The yearly refresh cycle needs to stop. “Cellphones” need to go in the way of the computer. The yearly refresh is not gaining us any major breakthroughs anymore.