Overview: Latin America (LATAM) gray market smartphones accounted for more than 9% of legitimate entries, that were not locally assembled nor officially imported during the first three quarters of 2024. However, in countries such as Brazil, they accounted for up to 18% of their markets during certain quarters.
Although gray-market smartphones are present in many countries, only a few markets are affected by such devices. There are two main drivers of this phenomenon. The first is related to the level of taxes imposed on smartphones. The more the taxes, the bigger the gray market. The other driver is the geographical location. This report analyzes the correlation and individual effects of these two drivers.
