Consumers not yet ready for $2,000 smartphones (and 62% never will be)

Over the past two years, we've seen smartphones continue to rise in price. Nobody bats an eye at a $1,000 flagship these days, but in 2017 it was a big deal when Apple launched the iPhone X. Some suggest it's only a matter of time before the $2,000 smartphone becomes mainstream, as we wince at the price of the Galaxy Fold today. A new study suggests consumers are not, and may never be, ready for phones that cost two grand.

The study, conducted by SellCell, has revealed some startling data. Whilst it is not hugely surprising that 76.7 percent of those surveyed oppose the idea of a $2,000 smartphone, the fact that 62.2 percent of American consumers said they would never be willing to spend that much on a mobile phone in their lifetime could be a concern for manufacturers.

More than 60% of Americans say they would probably never spend $2,000 on a smartphone. / © SellCell

One in ten (11.5 percent) said they might consider buying a $2,000 phone in three to four years, while only 5.3 percent would get one sometime next year or the subsequent year after. Around 56 percent believe Apple is the only brand worthy of spending $2,000 on, while almost 27 percent said they'd spend that much on a Samsung-branded device, such as the Galaxy Fold.

Interestingly, women are more likely to shell out $2,000 on their next phone than men. Around 61 percent of the respondents who voted in favor of $2K smartphones were women. Maybe Samsung is onto something with that Galaxy Bloom!

Among the most anticipated design trends are modular phones (48.3 percent) like we have Motorola experiment with already, and foldable phones (41.1 percent), closely followed by fully bezel-less design (36.2 percent). Although there are a plethora of 'almost' bezel-less phones featuring notch and hole-punch displays in the market, we are yet to see handsets with an all-display front with no sign of bezels and featuring under-display cameras. This technology is coming and we've already seen several concepts coming out of China. The dual-screen concept is the worst-rated design trend, with less than ten percent of respondents looking forward to smartphones with two displays. We've already seen this with the Nubia Z20 and the LG G8X, although both companies do it a little differently.

Consumers want modular phones and foldable displays before spending $2,000 on a new device. / © SellCell

Manufacturers may have no choice but to raise the price on their products to integrate the latest technology breakthroughs all the while staying profitable, but if consumers are not ready we could see more slowdown in the smartphone market and users hanging onto to older devices for longer and longer.

The report is based on a survey - conducted between January 6-13, 2020 - involving more than 2,000 adults, aged 18 years or higher, based in the United States. You can read the full report here.

What do you think of the results of this survey? Will you ever be ready to spend $2,000 on a smartphone? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

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