OMDIA Business Insight Article
LONDON, June, 2024: According to the latest Omdia Smartphone Model Market Tracker, the low-end price segment experienced the fastest growth among all smartphone categories. Phones priced under $150 grew by 30 million year-on-year, from 90 million in 1Q23 to 120 million in 1Q24, marking a 33% growth. Notably, the ultra-low-cost phones priced at $90 or less, demonstrated an impressive 87% year-on-year growth rising from 18 million in 1Q23 to 34 million in 1Q24.
A significant factor driving this growth is the trend among mid-end phone buyers: to either upgrade their new phone to higher-end models or downgrade to more affordable low-end phones. According to Omdia's consumer survey, the smartphone replacement cycle in emerging markets is shorter compared to developed countries. “This is due to the poor performance and shorter security and OS support period of cheap smartphones,” explained Aaron West, Senior Analyst in Omdia’s Smartphone group. The expanding emerging markets are also steadily increasing the demand for low-end smartphones, as OEMs launch new low-priced models in countries such as India.
The demand for mid-end phones, priced between $151 and $600, experienced a significant decline in early 2023 and has not yet recovered. In 1Q24, these phones accounted for 107 million shipments, down 2 million from 109 million in 1Q23. As illustrated in Figure 1, this long-term trend shows a negative year-on-year (YoY) change in the mid-end segment in recent years, while the low-end segment has seen positive growth since 1Q23 and the high-end segment since 3Q23.
