Why people are buying more expensive smartphones than they have in years

The average smartphone price rose 10 percent last quarter compared to a year earlier— the fastest price increase to date. That brings the global average smartphone price to $363, according to customer checkout data from market research firm GfK.

For years, the price of smartphones has declined, as a slew of lower-priced iPhone competitors entered the market.

Recently, however, prices have begun to tick back up. Overall, smartphone prices rose 6 percent from 2016 to 2017.

That’s because as smartphones become even more essential to daily life, people are choosing to buy bigger and better ones. Large full-screen displays and dual cameras are becoming commonplace, as are their higher price tags.

Case in point: The iPhone X that came out last fall. It comes with facial recognition, a studio-quality camera and animated poop emojis. It also costs $1,000.

This data is for full-price phones, and does not include prices for subsidized phones made cheaper by carrier contracts — a practice that has largely disappeared. The data include point-of-sale data in more than 75 markets.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

We have a request

Vox's journalism is free because we believe that everyone deserves to understand the world that they live in. That kind of knowledge helps create better citizens, neighbors, friends, parents, consumers and stewards of this planet. In short, understanding benefits everyone. You can join in on this mission by making a financial gift to Vox today. Reader support helps keep our work free, for everyone. Will you join us?

One-Time Monthly Annual

$95/year

$120/year

$250/year

$350/year

Other

$

Yes, I'll give $120/year

Yes, I'll give $120/year

We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. You can also contribute via