Samsung and Huawei Double Down on Apple's High-Price Phone Strategy
- IPhone rivals introduce foldable phones for $2,000 or more
- Expensive models hit as smartphone market growth stagnates
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Samsung Electronics Co. and Huawei Technologies Co. watched as Apple Inc. first priced a mass market smartphone at more than $1,000 -- and now have upped the ante with new models at almost double that cost.
Apple kicked off the trend in 2017 with the iPhone X. Its latest premium iPhones, the XS and XS Max, cost as much as $1,450. This past week, Samsung and Huawei doubled the bet, pricing their folding phones at $1,980 and about $2,600, respectively. That makes the folding devices the most expensive phones to date, excluding low-volume, jewelry-like phones from companies like Vertu that can top $10,000.