Back in 2010, if you had told the average person that a new high-end smartphone would run them $800 to $1,000, they would likely have burst into laughter. Fast forward to 2020, and most of us don’t even blink at such a price tag.

There are more than 50 smartphone companies in the world, but in the United States, statistics from Counterpointresearch show that Apple and Samsung combined controlled 67% of the smartphone market in 2019.

Both flagship devices by these two companies cost about $1,000. When you consider the fact that for $160, you can purchase a smartphone with a bigger battery and a higher resolution than the Iphone 11, a puzzling question reveals itself. Why do so many people, given the alternatives, flock to Apple and Samsung?

Let’s remember that most of us don’t do much more than text, call, browse the web and use social media apps like Snapchat and Twitter. Nowadays, most phones can do that.

None of the photos most of us take are important enough to necessitate the insane technology marketed by Apple and Samsung.

Let’s be honest, nobody buys a $1,000 smartphone with utility in mind. At this point, if Apple and Samsung are selling these expensive devices, it is because to customers, they represent more than just a smartphone.

If you met someone your age who didn’t own a smartphone, chances are, you would be confused. The ability to contact others and be contacted at any given point in time has ingrained itself in the social expectations we exert on one another.

Your friend isn’t five miles away, they’re sitting in the palm of your hand in your smartphone.

In that sense, our phones are extensions of ourselves. They’re part of our identity. People don’t just know you as your in-person figure, they know you as a combination of your physical self, your Instagram, your Snapchat, your Twitter and so on.

If what you’re buying is an extension of yourself, then it’s no wonder why you’d be willing to throw $1,000 at it. Apple and Samsung’s competitors simply don’t have the status associated with the two titan companies, so even with objectively better value devices, it’s not surprising to see them lagging behind.

That’s even when you consider that right now, for $160, you can purchase a smartphone with a bigger battery and a higher resolution than the latest Iphone.

Calling, texting, checking Snapchat, using Twitter and browsing the web are all activities that even the cheapest phone can easily handle. Besides playing cheap video games, most of us don’t really do more than that with our phones.

We just choose the brand over price.

Image by TeroVesalainen from Pixabay