Where Are Smartphones Priced Highest?
According to market research firm Strategy Analytics (SA), the average wholesale price of smartphones sold in Korea last year was 466 US dollars (about 490,000 won), the second highest after Japan's 557 US dollars (594,000 won).
The United States came in third with US$425, followed by Australia and Switzerland with US$420 and US$415, respectively. China, which is the world's No. 1 smartphone market, recorded an average wholesale price of US$209, ranking 41st and India, US$128, placing 77th.
It is analyzed that Japan recorded strong sales of Apple's iPhone and many consumers chose high-priced smartphones such as those of Samsung and Apple in Korea.
In the Japanese smartphone market, Apple ranks first with a market share of around 50%. In Korea, Samsung is a dominant player with a market share of 56.7%, followed by Apple (17.7%) and LG (17.4%) in the smartphone market last year.
SA forecast that the average wholesale price of smartphones in Korea would continue to rise to US$481 (513,000 won) this year and US$491 (523,000 won) in 2019.
Even in terms of wholesale sales, the Korean smartphone market ranks eighth. This is because its market size is relatively small. As of last year, China ranked first with US$93.58 billion (99.8 trillion won), followed by the United States with US$67.872 billion (72.4 trillion won), India (US$15.695 billion, 16.7 trillion won) ), And Japan (US$18.544 billion, 19.8 trillion won). South Korea came in eighth with US$ 9.553 billion (10.3 trillion won).
The SA expects the domestic smartphone market to rank sixth with sales of US$12.586 billion (13.4 trillion won) in 2023.