IHS Markit analyst, Wayne Lam, has said that if the margins on the Note 8 are the same as previous Samsung Note phones, the retail price could be nearly $1,000, given the increase in the BOM cost from $290 on the last version to $350 on the Note 8.
Lam said in a blog post that as the smartphone industry enters a super cycle with novel new display and gigabit LTE designs, IHS Markit anticipates the trend for price increases in premium smartphone models will continue as OEMs continue to look for design differentiation at the upper echelons of the product category. However, IHS believes that OEMs are taking a risk because they are yet to confirm whether there is enough price elasticity in the market for these premium smartphone designs. If there is not, consumers will either choose cheaper smartphone models or hold off on smartphone purchases.
