With the arrival of Corona and the change in the life and education of students from the real environment to the virtual environment, mobile phones, in addition to playing a more prominent role in people’s lives, have also become essential household goods. Of course, this issue was accompanied by bitterness such as the inefficiency of old phone models to meet the educational needs of students or the lack of financial capacity to purchase or replace them. But now that more than three years have passed since the outbreak of Corona, it is still difficult and tiring to purchase and replace mobile phones, but in a new format; Because in recent months, the jump in the dollar rate has become an excuse for the price of phones in the market (despite receiving half the foreign exchange for imports) to increase and grow strangely. As the price of the dollar, which was around 40 thousand tomans at the beginning of Bahman, has now reached 54 thousand 600 with a growth of 36%, but despite the fact that the increase in the exchange rate does not affect the increase in the price of mobile phones, it can be seen that the average price growth of 45 popular and economical phone models in the market It has grown by more than 50%. Of course, as mentioned, this growth rate is average, and the price increase is up to nearly 90%, mainly among economic phones and within the purchasing power of households, which can prevent households and individuals from accessing new products and increasing the quality of communication services. . The issue that caused the mobile phone importers association to request the non-allocation of semi-currency and its supply from the central bank’s new system (exchange center) so that the benefit of allocating the country’s foreign exchange reserves while not affecting the final consumer, goes to the pockets of a few active chain in this field. Do not enter either.
From the decline of mobile manufacturers to the jump in prices in 70 days
Maybe a few years ago, if any person who had a little familiarity with the mobile market and smart equipment was asked about the manufacturing companies and phone models in the market, he would have easily mentioned their names, but in the last few years, large companies in this new and diverse market They have declined (such as HTC or Nokia) and new companies have emerged (such as Xiaomi and Huawei). It is difficult to name and mention the types of smartphones, let alone examine their price changes. However, in this report, we tried to mention both the products of prominent companies in the Iranian market and the economic phones that are popular with the general public (in different price categories and with the usual features) in this list. Of course, it should be noted that the prices of a phone model vary depending on the country of manufacture, warranty, and supplier, so regarding the daily price of the phones, we tried to take the average of the prices and the average price at the beginning of December was also obtained from reputable and reputable websites. Moreover, if the release of a mobile phone was on a date after the beginning of December, an effort has been made to use the price closest to the beginning of this month in this comparison.
At the same time and after mentioning the variables that existed and should be considered in the classification and price review of phones from the beginning of January to the 10th of March, it should be said that according to the observations, the price changes on the market floor have occurred wider than what was predicted. However, this should be justified by citing reasons such as the increase in the price of the dollar.
90% price increase of some phones in 2 months
But before examining and analyzing the issue of currency and its connection with the mobile market, a look at the changes in the smart phone market in the last 2 and a half months shows a price growth, especially in economic phones and at the level of the financial power of the middle class of the society, as by looking at this The list of 10 smart phones that were at the top of the price increase from the beginning of January to March 11 were among the products that had a price below 10 million Tomans in January, and in other words, they were considered to be economic phones. As the Xiaomi Poco M3 Pro 5G phone (128 memory and RAM 6), which was sold to customers at an average price of 5 million and 400 thousand tomans at the beginning of January, is now available for more than 10 million tomans, in other words, with a price increase of almost 90%. The final consumer arrives. The next rank is for the Huawei model Nova 8i (128 memory and 8 RAM) which, although its average price reached 6 million Tomans at the beginning of January, now it is sold in the market at a price of 11 million Tomans with an increase of more than 80%. Smartphones that continue to face the highest price growth are Redmi Note 11S (128 memory and 8 RAM) with a price of 12 million Tomans and a price growth of 75%, poco c40 (with 64 memory and 4 RAM) with a price of 6 million and 250 One thousand Tomans and a 74% price growth, Redmi Note 11 Pro (128GB memory and 8 RAM) with a price of 14 million and 500 thousand Tomans and a 73% growth are in the next ranks.
Half of the phones have increased in price by 50%
Of course, the price increase is not limited to these phones only, as out of the 45 phone models examined, the price of more than half of them has increased by 50 and more than 50%, which is again a regrettable point that out of these 23 phone models, the price of only 3 models At the beginning of January, it was more than 10 million Tomans, and in other words, most of the phones in this list were at a reasonable price for families with a medium financial level. In fact, the 23 phone models with a price growth of more than 50% had an average price of nearly 8 million Tomans at the beginning of January, which reached nearly 13 million Tomans by March 11, and an average growth of 63% in the 23 phone models with the highest Price growth shows. In terms of the manufacturer of these phones, it should be said that 11 phones were from Xiaomi, 9 from Samsung and 3 from Huawei.
Buying a phone online? Unfortunately, it is not available!
One of the methods based on which you can at least have a look at the market is the supply and inventory of online stores that sell phones. As the review of these stores shows that in the last few days, the number of phones that are out of stock in online stores despite the buying and selling at the market level is increasing. This shows that due to the artificial turbulence of the mobile market, the sellers tend to have their sales at least face-to-face in order to provide the mental ground for accepting the price increase for the customers. In this case, by announcing the stock in a longer period of time and with a new price, the demand side will be stimulated and satisfied with the new price, in the event that there has been no interruption in the import of mobile phones, and neither the currency dedicated to this type of product has been a free currency. .
Why do luxury phones have low price growth?
One of the evidences based on which the artificial price increase in the mobile market can be cited is that, as mentioned, the price growth in the last 70 days has occurred in phones that people have more purchasing power, except for high-end and even some mid-range phones. They have experienced much lower price increases than other models. As a look at the price of phones that have a price increase of less than 40% shows that only two models had a price below 10 million at the beginning of December (this small price increase for these models can be due to the release of new versions and models but in the same price range .) as among the phones with a small price increase, the names of high-end and even mid-range models of Samsung and Apple are also seen; For example, S22 Ultra, which was in the market at the beginning of January with an average price of about 43 million tomans, on March 12, it had a price of about 57 million tomans, which shows its growth of 33%, and in the classification of the price growth of phones, it is considered one of the phones with a small growth . On the other hand, even the iPhone 13, which in the absence of the iPhone 14 and thanks to the impossibility of registering it, has a high desire to buy it, has seen a relatively small increase in price, as the model with 128 GB memory has only 26% and the 256 MB model has increased by 41%. (As mentioned, the non-registration of iPhone 14 and buyers’ preference for 256 GB memory is effective in this price growth of this version.) Therefore, the price increase in the market is more related to the pricing of supply factors than the increase in the dollar price. As mentioned, even if the increase in the price of budget phones is due to the increase in demand for them, there is still no justification for the increase in price.
The increase in the price of the dollar is an excuse to increase the price of the phone
It is interesting that in the field investigation of the reporter of Farahikhtegan regarding the reasons for the increase in the price of mobile phones in recent months and days, this statement was repeatedly heard by the sellers that the increase in the price of the dollar is the main and obvious reason for the increase in the price of mobile phones. But this issue may not be a strange reason at first glance, but the issue becomes more interesting when, according to the statements of the responsible authorities, the currency needed by importers for imports is provided in the form of semi-currency, and the imported shipments of mobile phones do not enter the country with free currency.
Therefore, it seems that in a situation where price increases are happening in different product groups, mobile phone sellers have started to increase prices in order not to fall behind this trend and abuse these conditions, and they are making more profit than sales profit after covering Different types of import costs (preparation cost, customs, transportation, etc.) remain for them. Therefore, it is necessary during the last days of the year when many people intend to change their phones and also some people who may want to buy mobile phones due to price increases, which will increase the demand, which can temporarily increase the price on the other side. be supplied, proper management should be done at least in the short term.
Importing phones with half currency, selling at a free rate!
However, as mentioned, despite the allocation of Nimai currency to mobile phone importers, the pricing process and the amount paid by customers are calculated in free currency, which has caused a sharp increase in this market, such as the price of the dollar, which was around 40 thousand tomans at the beginning of Bahman, and is now growing 36% has reached 54,600, but despite the fact that the increase in the exchange rate does not play a role in the increase in the price of mobile phones, it can be seen that the average price growth of 45 popular and economical phone models in the market has increased by more than 50%. This caused the mobile phone importers association to request from the central bank that mobile phone currency be provided from the source of the new system of the central bank (exchange center) and commodity group 26; Because if final customers are supposed to have their payments calculated in free currency, then the country’s foreign exchange resources and the profit from the price difference of import and final sale will not go to the benefit of a few. But this issue became official when the secretary of the Mobile Importers Association pointed out that currently phones below 600 dollars are supplied in the market based on the nominal rate, but the final price is significantly different from the price calculated based on the nominal currency, and said: “We believe that with the current conditions the country, a series of other goods should use Nimai currency as public supplies, therefore we officially requested from Wednesday (March 3rd) in a self-identified manner that all the imports of mobile phones should come from the new system of the Central Bank and the 26 product group.”
50% difference in the price of import and single sale of mobile phones
But in another part of the investigation of the issue, one of the things that needs to be clarified is who gets the profit from the above price difference, in this regard, the secretary of the importers’ association says: “The importing company distributes the imported goods correctly and sells them at the real price in Wholesaler option. According to the sales chain, the importer does not single-sell and does not provide his goods to the end user, because we are traders and this is not the ecosystem practice. It is mandatory for importers to use the Horizon system. In this system, it is shown what goods the importer has handed over and at what price, at what time, to what quantity and to whom, so our companies cannot violate and there may be a way around it, but it happens very rarely. ” Therefore, he believes that based on observations from the market, the price of the phone based on the real price given by the importing companies does not reach the consumer. The issue that caused them to request not to allocate half-currency for the import of mobile phones below 600 dollars.
For example, the A53 phone is sold by importers at a price of five million and 300 thousand Tomans based on the Nimai currency, but in the market it reaches the end consumer at a price of up to eight million Tomans (according to the latest price announcement) and this 50% difference is important because the margin The profit of mobile trades is 3% for wholesale and 7% for retail. Therefore, the existing difference is actually a self-made bubble in the chain of such products until they reach the consumer, which needs to be managed by associations, trades, and most importantly, the ministry of privacy and consumer protection organization.
