Americans Want Big Phones—Not Folding Phones

Americans like their phones big, but they aren't sold on the value of foldables, according to the latest report from Wave7 Research, which surveys retail store staff to get a picture of who's buying what in American mobile phones today.

In its April report, Wave7 said shoppers are going big. TheGalaxy S22 Ultrais the top seller among Samsung phones at postpaid carriers, and theiPhone 13 Pro Maxcame in top among iPhones at Verizon and AT&T. The Pro Max's size and telephoto capabilities are major plusses for the top-of-the-line model, Wave7 says.

Small phones, meanwhile, fall far behind. TheiPhone 13 miniis the worst-selling iPhone 13 model at all carriers, the report says, and 56% of reps are saying demand for the2022 iPhone SEis weaker than it was for the 2020 model of the low-cost phone.

Americans aren't paying $1,000 or more up front for these phones—they're on long-term payment plans. At prepaid, where folks pay up front, the story is very different. The low-cost Samsung Galaxy A13,Galaxy A32and the2021 Moto G Stylus 5Grule at Boost, Cricket and Metro, the report says.

That's been the state of the US phone market for years. At postpaid, people are happy to pay $1,000 or more over two or three years for their phone. At prepaid, it's $350 or less. This trend has knocked out any real potential for popular global midrange-priced phones in the US, something I call the "unbuying valley."

A group of new midrangers aims to challenge that: the $449/$499Google Pixel 6a, the $449Samsung Galaxy A53, and the $499 Moto G Stylus 5G (2022), for example. We'll see in a few months if they get any traction.

The Failure of Foldables

大屏幕可能是受欢迎的,但更大的screens of foldable phones aren't compelling buyers, Wave7 said. In a survey of reps from the three major carriers, 77% of reps said they were not seeing "solid demand" for foldables. Several reps cited in the report said foldable prices were too high—which is something, considering Samsung's $999Galaxy Z Flip3is less expensive than both the best-selling Galaxy S22 Ultra and iPhone 13 Pro Max.

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On the other hand, Samsung's foldables are late in their yearly cycle right now, Motorola's foldable RAZR is more than a year old, and nobody else has one in the US. There's no fresh-looking foldable on the market.

There may be one more factor involved: In a separate survey, Wave7 says reps told them that camera capabilities were the #1 feature shoppers were looking for in smartphones. Foldable phones so far haven't had the best cameras—and if that's top of mind for shoppers, it could put foldables low on many lists.