Retail prices for high-end phones from the big three brands in the US - Apple, Samsung and LG - have been steadily rising from the very beginning of the race when the OG iPhone was introduced to our unsuspecting wallets. That one was $500 at launch, but the iPhone 8 starts at $700, and you are left with a dollar. The first Samsung Galaxy was also priced $500, while the Galaxy S9 took off at $720. When we add expensive, but popular outliers like the Note 9 or iPhone X with their thousand-dollar tags, we can easily explain the record average phone price increases lately.
