The decision by tech giants to launch cheaper smartphones probably isn't a coincidence either. The industry has grappled with slowing sales over the past couple of years, with global shipments only starting to rebound in the third quarter of 2019 after seven consecutive quarterly declines, according to the International Data Corporation.
Part of that growth could be thanks to the rising prominence of cheaper smartphones. In the second quarter of 2019, when smartphone shipments were still in decline but performing better than in previous quarters, the IDC cited "vastly improved mid-tier devices that offer premium designs and features while significantly undercutting the ultra-high-end in price."
Put bluntly, it's possible that people simply are no longer willing to pay $1,000 for a new smartphone. A study from NPD Group published last month also found as much, saying that less than 10% of consumers are paying more than $1,000 on new smartphones.
Smartphones didn't always cost that much. In fact, it seems $1,000 only became the norm for smartphone prices in recent years as devices gained new features like borderless screens, facial recognition, and more advanced cameras. The iPhone X, which launched in 2017, started at $1,000, but older iPhones launched at a significantly lower price. The iPhone 7 from 2016 started at $650, or $770 if you opted for the plus-sized model. Apple also debuted the $700 iPhone 8 alongside the iPhone X in 2017, but it was the latter that set the standard for the iPhone's design moving forward.
Samsung went through a similar change with its pricing strategies in recent years. The 2016 Galaxy S7 was priced at roughly $650, but 2017's Galaxy S8 was around $70 more expensive. And last year's Galaxy S10 started at $900 while the Plus model launched at $1,000, a similar pricing model as Apple's $1,000 iPhone 11 Pro and $1,100 iPhone 11 Pro Max.