---
title: "The falling price of a smartphone"
description: "Decline in the average selling price of smartphones over past two years."
date: "2013-09-10"
authors:
  - name: "Drew DeSilver"
    job_title: "Senior Writer/Editor"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/drew-desilver/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2013/09/10/the-average-selling-price-of-a-smartphone/"
categories:
  - "Smartphones"
---

# The falling price of a smartphone

The ever-increasing ubiquity of smartphones, in both developed and emerging markets, is driving prices for the devices lower and lower, according to technology market-research firm International Data Corp.

The average selling price worldwide for smartphones has fallen from $443 just two years ago to [$372 this year](http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS24143513), according to IDC. The company projects that by 2017, smartphones will sell for an average $307, driven by customers in emerging markets who are gravitating to 3G and older phones; already IDC expects the average selling price of smartphones in India to [fall below $200 by the end of this year](http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prSG24295113).

IDC last week increased its forecast for worldwide smartphone growth: It now says shipments will top 1 billion units, representing a 40% increase over last year, with China and other emerging markets driving much of the growth. Perhaps not coincidentally, Apple is [widely expected](http://money.cnn.com/2013/09/09/technology/mobile/apple-iphone-rumors/index.html) to unveil two new iPhones today: an upgraded version of its flagship iPhone 5 and a lower-end version aimed primarily at international markets (where phones typically aren't subsidized via contracts with service providers).

[![smartphones by income_age](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2013/09/smartphones-by-income_age.jpg)](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2013/09/smartphones-by-income_age.jpg)

Smartphone handset makers are looking toward emerging markets for growth in no small part because developed countries have quickly become saturated. Fully 56% of Americans now own smartphones, according to a June Pew Research Center report, including about eight-in-ten people in the 18-34 age group.

While younger adults are very likely to own smartphones regardless of income level, the Pew Research report found, among older adults smartphone [ownership is more of an “elite” phenomenon](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2013/09/04/smartphone-wars-more-options-for-fast-growing-market/) in the United States: The devices tend to be quite prevalent at the upper end of the income distribution but much less common among those with lower income levels.