Think US$1,000 iPhones are expensive? Get ready for US$2,000 foldable smartphones

Get ready for the era of US$2,000 smartphones.

Just months after Apple’s lacklustre iPhone sales in China were blamed on their thousand-dollar price tags, Huawei smashed the record with its 5G-ready foldable Mate X model retailing at 2,299 euros (US$2,600), while Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy Fold will start from US$1,980.

Smartphone vendors are offering models that are now powerful and big enough to challenge personal computers in functionality, with foldable phones being touted as a laptop alternative and with a price tag to match. The first of these new premium offerings, unveiled at the MWC trade show, formerly known as Mobile World Congress, will begin sales from the end of April.

Many consumers are suffering from sticker shock, going by comments on social media. Huawei’s Mate X has attracted many comments online from Chinese consumers who said that the US$2,600 price tag is unaffordable. The average monthly salary of white collar workers across 37 major Chinese cities is about US$1,200 as of June 2018, according to a report by recruiting firm Zhilian Zhaopin.

“It took our engineers three years to make the hinge in action for the seamless folding experience,” Huawei’s mobile chief Richard Yu Chengdong said in Barcelona after the official price of the Mate X was announced, explaining why the price cannot come down.