Why top smartphones are hardly available for less than 1000 euros

With the Samsung Galaxy S23, the South Korean conglomerate has presented its new flagship. The prices have increased significantly again. In an interview with the star Jan Schüssler, head of product management at Samsung, explains why this is – and who is bothered by it at all.

Mr. Schüssler, let’s go straight to the obvious: prices for high-end smartphones have hardly known any upper limits lately. Why is that?

Jan Schüssler: Unfortunately, this is due to the market situation. Components and supply chains have become more expensive, but of course customer demands have not decreased. Sea containers alone now cost many times what we paid just a few years ago. For devices where we don’t want to make compromises, this leads to price increases. Nevertheless, we managed to get started under 1000 euros.

It is 949 euros – that’s right. However, this is the device with the smallest storage space, namely the only one with 128 gigabytes. The device with twice the storage costs 1009 euros – why not 10 euros less and away with the entry-level model?

999 euros are less than 1000 – mathematically correct. But we wanted to be a bit further away from the four-digit amount. Someone who spends 999 euros has already taken this price hurdle in their mind anyway, so we can then offer more equipment without calculating every last cent.

Women prefer premium smartphones

Does Samsung notice that customers’ willingness to pay has increased or is at least keeping up with the course in unchanged numbers?

In fact, the willingness to pay increases slightly – regardless of the income class. Anyone who wants to buy a premium smartphone usually does not set any fixed limits. We experience that more in the medium-priced segment or in entry-level devices.

Who typically buys Samsung’s top devices?

That can’t be said in general terms, especially as we are experiencing a significant change. In the ultra range, we have over 50 percent female customers – who would have thought that.

Does this have anything to do with predictive buying?

It may be that the holding time for expensive smartphones has become significantly longer. That’s why we offer four years of Android updates and five years of security updates. Because we see that many people keep the devices longer today – and then dig deeper into their pockets for new smartphones, because you then use the device every day for a long period of time – and of course it also has to perform a lot of tasks.

Does Samsung know what is particularly important to customers? So – what does a new generation have to convince with in order for it to make a difference?

The camera is undoubtedly the most important selling point for a smartphone. The reason for this is simple: performance is the easiest to evaluate. I take a photo, look at it and can judge whether it’s particularly good or rather bad. That’s why it’s easier to market top smartphones with a very good camera than if you just look at the processors. Very few people need the extra power that ends up in the devices from year to year in everyday life. It’s different with photos – you’re still happy about outstanding results and then happy to have bought the corresponding device – you have something measurable in your hands that is also important for many users.

And what about the old way of doing things: faster, thinner, lighter?

I think we’ve just reached the optimal situation in many things. If you build the devices in a certain direction today, you lose features that you have grown fond of elsewhere. If you make a smartphone thinner, it becomes more unstable, if you make the back flush with the cameras, it becomes too thick. If you then install even larger batteries, it initially seems heavier for no reason – what is behind it does not matter at first impression. And as far as the cameras are concerned: This may look ugly on a bare device, but more than 60 percent of all smartphones end up in a cover anyway.

Is the Exynos dead?

We just talked about the processor. If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll notice that Samsung no longer uses its own chip in the S-Class, but relies on a supplier again. Is the Exynos dead?

The Exynos processor continues to find its home in other models – also in the future. We use it in the A series, for example. The S series is now back to Qualcomm worldwide – there are different reasons, some of which are of course economic. Samsung already announced last year that there will be closer cooperation with Qualcomm. Part of this intensified cooperation is also that Qualcomm CPUs are used in our new models of the Galaxy S series.

One hears that this is only a temporary solution, and Samsung is actually working on its own chips, which should take over again in two years at the latest. What’s the status there?

I can’t give exact details – but yes, we are developing Exynos further and see where it will find a place in the future. There are also rumours, and I’m just repeating rumors here, that Samsung is working on a whole new generation of chips. If you look at our group as a whole, you will discover Samsung Semiconductor quite quickly. Ultimately, their task is to win over us, i.e. Samsung Electronics, as customers. This is only possible if the chips from your own company outperform the competition – for the customer, performance counts, not the name.

Should this also have something to do with Samsung’s willingness to invest – does the company perhaps no longer see the potential in conventional smartphones and prefers to research in the collapsible and foldable direction?

The foldable smartphone segment is growing rapidly and Samsung is the leader in this space by a wide margin. However, since our customers have different requirements, Samsung is also constantly developing the non-foldable smartphones and making sure that they become more powerful and at the same time more energy-efficient.

Back to the S23 again. Which one should I take now?

First and foremost, I would look at the form factor first. Should it be as compact as possible? Then only the S23 comes into question. If you want it to be a little bigger, but don’t want to go beyond the budget, there’s the plus. If you want the maximum in performance and features – or you want a smartphone with a pen – then it can only be the Ultra.

And do people really want the pen?

Ever since our Galaxy Note series models, we’ve had a large fan base who wouldn’t want to do without the S Pen. For these customers, the S23 Ultra is the perfect model.

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