Cheap smartphones are dead. Apple doesn’t care

An important but potentially fragile trend is emerging in the data being reported by smartphone industry trackers: while painful component price increases are denting overall phone sales, the iPhone’s market share continues to increase. This likely reflects two key truths: Apple has fought to keep iPhone prices as stable as possible; though it has raised the price for its other products, it has not yet done so for its all-important smartphone. The company has built a great reputation for making smartphones that keep going for years and hold value better than rival platforms, though the looming price increase could put that perception to the test. As prices rise, quality matters more To most people, iPhones offer a perceived value. So, when the chips are down, consumers still gravitate toward them. They recognize the quality of these devices and, as the cost of other smartphones continues to increase, see iPhones as a more valuable alternative. Not only that, of course, but with the latest ‘e’ series iPhones, Apple is punching its way into the mid-range/value smartphone market, even as incumbents are forced to raise prices because of the AI-driven memory cost inflation. Smaller ven…