More than half of smartphones sold this year were priced over $1,000

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56% of all smartphones sold in Australia in the first half of this year were sold at a premium price point, at over $1,000, according to new research by technology analyst firm Telsyte.

iPhone sales took up almost half (49.4%) of sales for the first half of the year, making up a seven per cent increase year on year. In contrast, Android sales fell five per cent year on year.

With Apple’s foldable (seemingly) right around the corner, the study also found that foldables now account for approximately five per cent of annual smartphone sales. Almost half (46%) of iPhone 15, 16, and 17 Pro users are considering a foldable, with one in six (17%) willing to cough up over $3,000, placing the device in the ultra-premium tier. This comes as over one in five devices sold this year crossed the $2,000 threshold.

Telsyte believes a foldable iPhone would be the "single largest catalyst for the category".

"Despite the potential lofty prices, a new foldable iPhone could finally propel the category into the mainstream," said Telsyte principal analyst Foad Fadaghi.

The Australian Smartphone & Wearable Devices Market Study conducted by Telsyte concluded that smartphone sales were up significantly year-on-year, with the premium segment (smartphones costing over $1,000) adding 10 percentage points over the last two years.

While Telsyte forecasts 8.4 million smartphones will be sold in Australia by the end of the year, this represents a three per cent year-on-year decrease. A drop in sales is expected in the second half of the year as memory-driven costs are more broadly reflected.

Hannah Geremia

Digital Content Editor

Hannah Geremia is a Digital Content Editor for WhistleOut Australia. She's worked in consumer technology since April 2023 and has since won four awards IT journalism space. In 2025, she won Best New Journalist in the IT Journalism Award (The Lizzies). She has won Best Technical Writer at the Consensus Awards in both 2024 and 2025, and the Most Entertaining Writer in 2025. Before her time at WhistleOut, she created content for SafeWise Australia. Here she wrote at length about internet safety, cyber security, and consumer tech.

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