Phone prices up about 15% this year, 21% in India
Counterpoint finds new models priced around 25 per cent above the ones they replace, with the steepest rises in India, Asia Pacific and Africa.
Reported, not announced. The details below come from press reports rather than a manufacturer announcement.
The details
- Retail prices of existing smartphone models rose about 15 per cent on average globally so far in 2026.
- Regional increases: India 21 per cent, Asia Pacific 19 per cent, Middle East and Africa 18 per cent, Latin America 16 per cent, China 10 per cent, Europe 7 per cent, North America 5 per cent.
- Newly launched models are priced about 25 per cent higher year on year than the models they replace.
- More than 40 per cent of smartphone models tracked saw a price increase during 2026.
- Memory prices are cited as having risen roughly fourfold since Q4 2025.
- Counterpoint attributes India's steeper rise to the weight of low- and mid-tier phones, where makers cannot absorb memory-driven bill-of-materials increases.
- Analysts named on the research: Tarun Pathak (Research Director) and Karn Chauhan (Senior Analyst).
- Related India data: shipments of phones under INR 15,000 fell 45 per cent year on year in the June 2026 quarter, and India shipments fell about 10 per cent year on year in Q2 2026, the weakest June quarter in six years.
Why it matters
It quantifies how unevenly the component crunch is landing: buyers in India, Southeast Asia and Africa are absorbing three to four times the price rise seen in the US.