Iran’s Mobile Phone Market Faces Crisis As the Prices Increase

Since the beginning of the Persian new year, the Iranian Rial has been gradually losing its value compared to the US Dollar which has caused a huge failure for Iran’s hardware market, especially smartphones.

According to ITMEN, based on the latest surveys, despite the 50% increase in hardware prices in Iran, the sales of these companies has decreased by 60% from the same period last year.

The price of mobile devices in the market has now risen to an average of 5 million Rials ≈120 dollars*. But unlike in the past years, as the mobile market has boomed despite the ever-increasing price of these devices, few people now have the ability to buy phones, and only those who need to buy or want to buy it as a gift will pay for these electronic devices.

One of the main reasons for the decrease of the purchasing power among consumers is the reduction of imports and the imbalance of supply and demand in the market. For instance, the iPhone X is currently sold in Iran with an average price of 90 to 110 million Rials. Last week, the iPhone X was sold for 70 million Rials in the market.

It appears that mobile phone importers in Iran have a problem with importing these devices with the exchange rate of each dollar 42,000 Rials. Experts in this field expect a 30% increase in the price of mobile devices in the market.

According to rumors, the representatives of some of the well-known mobile brands have no plans to sell their imported products, and it seems that they plan to officially leave the country by the end of the year due to economic issues and the new wave of sanctions.

Another reason for this increase in mobile phone prices is the “mobile phones registry scheme” which was introduced a few months ago to create a fair competition environment and to use reliable warranties and improve after-sales service in the country.

Currently, with the implementation of the registry plan, the mobile phone price, including 18% of the customs charge, plus shipping and after-sales costs, has increased by about 20%. Today, not only customers but mobile phone vendors are dissatisfied with the mobile market situation and believe that purchases in the market have fallen by more than 50%.

*Based on dollar rate set by the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran.