We are not far away from the point where high-end smartphones start at Rs 50,000 and above. Where earlier this was unimaginable, theRs 45,000 is no big barrier to cross anymore and as more and more high-end flagships with ‘better’ hardware hit themarket. At some point, the core hardware development will hit terminal velocity with very little headroom forinnovation. Even Samsung is moving its focus from smartphone sales to components as it shifts its investment priority. Willthis lead to a saturation of the high-end segment, where thepotential audience forthese phones dwindles or will the growth continue unabated? Let’s throw the discussionopen.
If you oversimplify a high-end smartphone, then essentially it is a high-resolution screen, thefastest available silicon,and the best possible camera you can squeeze in. At least two of these three aspects have reacheda tipping point of sorts.
There’s only so much you can do within thespace you have for camera optics, without making thephone look like a ‘franken-phone’. From a pure “megapixel” point of view, 13MP is great, and the picture qualitywill not progress beyond a point without better optics. Of course, themegapixel counterwill keep goingup, but as has been said numerous times megapixels aren’t everything.
On thescreen front, a full-HD display is outstanding. I mean, so outstanding that I often wonder if most people realize that small displays with such incredible resolution is quite an amazing thing to have. That leaves us with processing power. Admittedly, here there is some headroom available, but even many cheapersmartphones perform reasonably well with a GHz+ processor ticking under the hood.
The key differentiatorsseparating the low-medium-high-end smartphones are almost always these core specs. And as you check-uncheck that filter list in theleft hand panel on any e-commerce site, you’ll notice that thegaps are reducing. The mid-range smartphoneused to be the high-end smartphone of about a year ago and that’s already getting attacked by faster and better-specced phones at lower prices. And the time-gap may very well come down to 6 months as opposed to a year as it stands now. So yes, phones priced around Rs 40,000 and over will have a tougher time inthe market in thefuture, and they may very well end up being marginalized.
Francis D’Sa
I strongly thinkit is. High-end smartphones being pumped out by thetop brands seem to only be an exercise to see who can make thefastest and most feature-rich smartphone. With Samsung presently leading, and HTC and Sony creeping up its sleeves, it does seem like there is a war to produce the best phone. Consumers are being wooed constantly with better features and promise of a faster performance. But only those already using high-end smartphones are still tempted to upgrade theirexisting phones with even more powerful units. The question is, are they really getting theirmoney’s worth?
Some who have already invested inthe high-end or mid-range handsets feelcheated as thenext 'new and improved'phone makes their phone outdated within a matter of months. Manufacturers don’t seem to be interested inwhat theuser wants or needs on his device. And this could lead to inclusionof features that they don’t need and thus an increase inprice. With the amount of high-end phones floodingthemarket, only those who can affordto replace their smartphoneevery few monthswill go ahead and do so. Others who used hard-earned savings to buy a phone hoping it would be future-proof feelcheated and this will only make them shy away from thetop bracket. In this sense, it is heading towards saturation.
RoydonCerejo
The priceband for high-end phones will keep increasing fora simple reason - staying on thecutting edge of technology does not come cheap. The high-end space won't be saturated like the mainstream segment (Rs 15,000 and below) since there's only room forthe best and we have only a handful of players in this category. I also thinkthe perception of 'value-for-money' will change over time and will also steadily increase. A Rs 30,000 phone was considered flagship a year ago but today whencompared to a Rs 45,000 phone, it will be good value as you'll most likely be getting 90 - 95 per cent of thefeatures. There will always be an audience for premiumhandsets (look at how well the iPhone is selling despite its 'ridiculous'price) and this will ensure only the best in thebusinesswill be successful,thus avoiding clutter.
Have your say below. Willconsumers continue buying high-end smartphones if they don't offeranything tangibly betterfor thehigher price?
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