Over the past few years, Pakistan's economy has been plunged into severe economic instability. As a result, the smartphone industry in this country has also seen a downtrend, mainly due to the United States Dollar value hitting a record high. This economic situation has hiked the prices of smartphones in this market, greatly affecting the ability of consumers to afford them. As a result, users initially interested in acquiring high-end phones have had to reconsider and settle for midrange smartphones, and likewise, those who had initially planned to purchase midrange phones were forced into the more affordable budget segment.

In light of this, we decided to conduct an extensive analysis to determine which price bracket of smartphones are being sold the most in Pakistan over the past few quarters. This exercise aims to give an understanding of the purchasing power of the Pakistani populace and their preferred smartphone brands. We separated the price ranges based on U.S. Dollar values, and the percentages were calculated based on the number of units sold in the past five quarters. This research is expected to help us evaluate how consumer preferences for smartphones have shifted in relation to economic indicators.

It was found that smartphones categorized under the second highest selling price range accounted for 35% of total sales in the market, making it the second most popular category of smartphone sold in the last five quarters. Starting from the second quarter in 2022, approximately 33.1% of total smartphone purchases were from this category. Further on, in the third quarter of 2022, this percentage declined slightly to 28.5%, then rose to 31.2% in quarter four. The upward trend continued into the first quarter of 2023 where it recorded sales of 37.7%, and settling at 33.9% in the second quarter of 2023.

The category that recorded the most smartphone sales in the last five quarters was the $100-$200 price range. This category had a cumulative average of about 58% of total smartphone sales. Despite a decrease to 45% in Q2 of 2022, there was a significant rise in subsequent quarters with this price range accounting for 60.5% of total sales in Q3 of the same year. This increase in preference continued into Q4 of 2022 where it made up 60.3% of total smartphone sales. However, there was a slight drop to 54.4% in Q1 of 2023, possibly due to various economic pressures, but the trend bounced back in Q2 of 2023 with sales reaching 60.9%.

A smaller portion of the population could afford smartphones in the higher price range, with cumulative sales in this category amounting to about 8% of total sales. In the second quarter of 2022, this category accounted for 20% of total sales, but this significantly dropped in subsequent periods due to the increased PTA tax, escalating inflation, and other economic issues. Following these changes, the sales of smartphones in this price range dropped substantially to 10.1% in Q3 of 2022, and further to 7.2% by Q4 of the same year. The decline continued into 2023, recording 6.2% in Q1 and further dropping to 4% in Q2.

This top price range includes flagship phones from brands such as Apple's iPhone, Samsung's S series, and Google's Pixel series. Taxes within this high price range are also quite steep, rising to a staggering PKR 175,000. Consequently, only about 2-3% of total smartphone sales in each quarter come from this price range, which is a fairly negligible number.

This data provides an insightful overview of Pakistan's smartphone market, indicating how affordability and prevailing economic conditions are significantly shaping consumer preferences. In such a competitive market, smartphone brands need to continually adapt to these changing consumer preferences, as well as the economic environment, in order to maintain their market relevance and success.