> What do you consider a budget phone needs to cost?
Spending $300 on a phone is not something anyone anywhere in the world does if they are on a budget. In some corners of the world, $300 is close to a monthly wage. How out of touch can someone be to claim this price tag is something someone spends when they are on a budget?
The reason why Chinese manufacturers like Huawei are gobbling the smartphone market in particular and the telecommunication sector in general is that they understand what "budget" means. Their product line targets budget-minded consumers, with plenty of models that cost less than $150. You can get low-end models for around $50. What could possibly suggest anyone that "budget" implies a price tag that's 6 times greater than that?
Prices are relative. Not many folks in the US are buying $50 smartphones. Sure, you can buy a smart phone that is $50, but it sure is a crappy smartphone, at least in the US. We're talking about US market here, obviously.
Obviously there's markets that need to be serviced by super cheap phones... but it's a much more brutal market to compete in.
You also need to sell literally 20x the amount of $50 phones as you do a $1000 phone to make the same amount of money (assuming your margins are the same... which they likely are not). Nobody really wants the super low end budget segment, the numbers are just bad.
Spending $300 on a phone is not something anyone anywhere in the world does if they are on a budget. In some corners of the world, $300 is close to a monthly wage. How out of touch can someone be to claim this price tag is something someone spends when they are on a budget?
The reason why Chinese manufacturers like Huawei are gobbling the smartphone market in particular and the telecommunication sector in general is that they understand what "budget" means. Their product line targets budget-minded consumers, with plenty of models that cost less than $150. You can get low-end models for around $50. What could possibly suggest anyone that "budget" implies a price tag that's 6 times greater than that?