iPhone ASP Edges Closer to $800

When Apple introduced the iPhone X in September 2017, many were convinced that it would flop miserably. The entry-level price of $999 seemed too outlandish even for Apple’s standards, and only the most deluded followers of the Apple cult would be willing to spend that much money on a marginally better phone. Willing they were and so were millions of other people who turned the iPhone X into a major success.

As our chart illustrates, the iPhone X pushed Apple’s smartphone ASP to nearly $800 in last year’s holiday quarter (Apple's Q1 2018) and kept it above the $700 mark ever since. Moreover, the iPhone X helped Apple to a record-breaking holiday quarter and its biggest iPhone year ever in terms of revenue.

Most importantly though, what seemed like an exception last year, may have pushed the boundary for what consumers are willing to pay for a smartphone upwards permanently. Samsung’s latest flagship phone, the Galaxy Note 9, also costs $999, and Apple’s new top-of-the-line iPhones, the Xs and Xs Max, push the envelope even further with prices ranging from $999 to $1,449.