Within a year after the Apple iPhone X launch in 2017, $1,000 for a flagship smartphone became a normal thing. A few smartphones have even launched well above the $1,000 mark. According to the latest report from Counterpoint Research, this new phenomenon has inevitably helped create a popularity for affordable premium smartphones.
The premium flagship smartphones were the top-selling Samsung smartphones in its home country, South Korea. As per the latest sales report, the Galaxy A90 5G is the top-selling smartphone for the first quarter of 2020. It is the first ever non-premium flagship to top the chart since 2016.
Affordable premium smartphones are now popular in Korea
The Galaxy A90 5G is also the first Galaxy A smartphone powered by the Snapdragon 8-series Mobile Platform. At $453, the average selling price (ASP) of the Galaxy A90 5G is only half of what last year’s top-selling smartphone cost.
The Galaxy Note 9, the top-selling smartphone in Q1 2019, sold at an ASP of $806.
Compared to Q1 2019, there is clearly an increase in demand for affordable premium smartphones. Out of the top five best-selling Samsung smartphones in Q1 2020 in South Korea, three are part of the Galaxy A series. The Galaxy A30 and Galaxy A50 are the two affordable smartphones in the top 5 list.
No Galaxy S20 smartphone in the top 5 list
Last year’s Galaxy Note 10 5G and Galaxy Note 10 Plus 5G are the only premium flagships that made it onto the list. Interestingly, there is not even a single Galaxy S smartphone in the Q1 2020 list.
Whereas three Galaxy S smartphones including the then newly launched Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10 Plus made it to the top 5 list in Q1 2019.
However, the early outbreak of COVID-19 in South Korea might have shown affect over the sales of the Galaxy S20 series.
The report reveals an increase in popularity for the affordable premium smartphones in the South Korean market. The same trend will apply to many other markets as well.
From now on, the affordable premium smartphones from Samsung should be facing tough competition from Apple and LG.
Apple recently launched the iPhone SE 2020 powered by A13 Bionic chipset at just $399. On the other hand, LG ditched the G-series in favor of the new Velvet smartphone.
The new LG Velvet comes with the mid-range Snapdragon 765G Mobile Platform and is priced at KRW899,800 (approx. $730). The newly launched Exynos 880 5G chipset will also bring 5G connectivity for the masses.