Smartphone Price: Consumers Turning Away From Apple and Towards HTC, Samsung

Recent rumors that Apple may be interested in the low-cost smartphone market may not be as far fetched as it sounds, despite the New York Times debunking the iPhone Nano speculation. According to The Next Web, uSwitch has released the results to its UK-based study showing that consumers are increasingly looking at price as a major factor in making a smartphone purchase.

According to the uSwitch report, UK shoppers are now turning to HTC and Samsung, and away from Apple, as the former two have phones that are subsidized to the tune of ‘free’ on most carriers in the UK. uSwitch’s study examines searches and retail sales of phones, and fines that the HTC Desire, Desire HD, and Wildfire are among the top three smartphones.

While the Apple iPhone 4 remains popular, its higher price tag–both with and without a contract–places the device os number six on uSwitch’s top ten list:

1. HTC Desire
2. HTC Desire HD
3. HTC Wildfire
4. Blackberry Curve 8520
5. Samsung Galaxy S
6. Apple iPhone 4 (16Gb)
7. Motorola DEFY
8. Sony Ericsson S500i
9. Samsung G800
10. Samsung i600

According to uSwitch, “HTC has outsmarted the smartphone market by customising its handsets at a range of price points – as seen by the Wildfire acting as an aspirational Desire. It’s clever marketing. Android phones have well and truly pipped Apple to the post.”