Colombia is not a target market for flagship and premium smartphones considering its characteristics. The wholesale price segment of >$500 (or >2,217.920 million Colombian Pesos*), which typically has devices with a NAND capacity higher than 64 gigabytes, RAM capacity higher than 2 gigabytes, and 4G and 5G connectivity, represented 4.4% of the sales during Q2 2022, significantly higher than the 2.2% share in Q1 2022. This means that despite the seasonality effect, more Colombian customers bought high-end smartphones. This blog discusses the leading brands’ flagship models on offer in Colombia. The open channel here is any technology retail store, and the operator channel is any operator store.

Source: Counterpoint Market Monitor

Apple

The American brand shines with every new model launched; the iPhone 13 series is no exception. The sell-out price for these models starts at $1,950 (8,651.960 million Colombian Pesos*) for the Pro version. All iPhone models are available in the country. Apple suffered in the second quarter due to a local court’s preliminary order that bans the import and sale of all 5G devices that infringe on Ericsson’s 5G patent.

Samsung

The South Korean brand has a broad high-end portfolio with the Galaxy S22 series and Z foldable series. The open channel and proprietary brick-and-mortar stores present a wider variety of models, while the operators are more constrained. Only Movistar from Telefonica sells all the above-mentioned series’ models. Sell-out prices range from $834 (3,699.900 million Colombian Pesos*) to almost $1,386 (6,149.900 million Colombian Pesos*). 

Xiaomi

The Chinese brand has different models in the price segment. On any channel, one will find three model families — Xiaomi 11T, Xiaomi 11T Pro and the new Xiaomi 12. The only difference among channels is in the open market. One can find the POCO sub-brand only in the open market. Prices for Xiaomi’s phones in the segment range between $541 (2,399.000 million Colombian Pesos*) and $902 (3,999.000 million Colombian Pesos*).

Motorola

The smallest portfolio for the segment is from Motorola. A few models are available in the Moto Edge series. However, this brand enjoys an advantage over its competitors because the new Moto Edge 30 Pro is promoted everywhere as part of a bundle with Moto Buds, which is a unique strategy in this price segment. The open market and mobile operators follow similar pricing and marketing strategies, which is also not common. Sell-out prices are $676 (2,999.900 million Colombian Pesos*) for the Edge 20 Pro and almost $744 (3,299.900 million Colombian Pesos*) for the new Moto Edge 30 Pro.

Current macroeconomic indicators like inflation and currency depreciation point to a smaller share of this price segment going forward. At the same time, other brands might enter the market and drive-up competition, bringing price benefits to the customers along with an expanded portfolio of options.

*Exchange rates may cause prices to vary