Analyzing why the price of iPhone fluctuates in the mobile market

Maybe until a while ago the phrase “Now price or now?” It was an exaggerated joke about currency price volatility, but the scope of the phrase is questionably widening. Due to its high sensitivity to the exchange rate, the iPhone is becoming one of the real examples of this joke, and its price fluctuates significantly, so that refreshing the page of an online store within a few hours will show the user several prices. Although this issue is not the only reason for the price instability of these phones.

If you visit the mobile market or check the pages of online stores daily, you will see the fluctuation of the price of phones above 600 dollars, especially the iPhone. The fluctuation of several million tomans for the 128GB iPhone 13 with the Chinese part number has apparently become a normal thing.

For example, the iPhone 13 Pro with a capacity of 256 GB, which on February 5, costs approx 79.8 million tomans On Monday, February 24th, when the definitive news of banning the import of passenger iPhone 14 was published, approx 84 million tomans It was sold.

iPhone 13 with a capacity of 128 GB is also from 37.7 million tomans with a growth of 10% to More than 41 million tomans it is arrived.

During this period, iPhone 13 Pro Max capacity of one terabyte has also increased from 97 million tomans to 103.5 million tomans.

This is despite the fact that the dollar rate has risen again since February 5 after a slight drop and has increased by nearly 8.6% until today.

After the release of the news Prohibition of passenger and postal import of iPhone 14, old iPhone models also experienced price growth again. This rate increase has been higher for the cheaper iPhone 13 models.

Analyzing the reasons for the fluctuations in iPhone prices

But this fluctuation in the price of the iPhone, which damages the seller and the consumer, originates from what factors?

As we reviewed, the correlation of the iPhone price with the dollar is one of the reasons for this. Currently, the currency of phones above 600 dollars such as Galaxy S23 and iPhones is provided by the currency obtained from exports.

This currency has had the same price with the free market until today, and maybe it was even higher in some cases. According to Mehdi Abakari, the secretary of the Mobile Importers Association, the price of these phones fluctuates over $600 in the market.

Of course, he considered other factors to be effective in the fluctuation and increase in the price of iPhone phones and told Digiato:

“For the iPhone, apart from the issue of currency, there is also the issue of lack of commercial goods. The iPhone 11, 12, 13, and SE that can be imported are almost limited because the new iPhone model has come to the global market, the older models are no longer produced, and there are not as many originals that a merchant can import into the country. Mobile phones imported by merchants must have a standard certificate, and so-called refurbished or repackaged goods are not allowed to be imported. That’s why iPhone phones are a limited quantity and their prices change a bit.”

Some news agencies have considered the astronomical prices of phones above 600 dollars, especially the iPhone, as a result of monopoly in the market. The issue that Abqari rejects and emphasizes is that there is no monopoly at all in the matter of mobile phone imports because there is diversity in commercial companies.

He believes that these words may be related to the issue of importing these phones with the currency “derived from its own export”: “The currency derived from its own export means that the company must have both an import license and an exporter. While import and export are two different categories, and especially in the field of mobile phones, they have no relation to each other.

The secretary of the Mobile Importers Association mentioned the negotiations with the central bank officials in this regard and said:

“We are negotiating to change this issue because practically importers have to step into the export field that they have no knowledge of. This category is one of the tasks in which they are not good at, for example, they have to export fruits and dried fruits, and it hurts the market of exporters because importers do not know the art of exporting. There is also the issue of using an export rental card, which also has its disadvantages. This is our demand from the central bank and we hope that due to the management change in this institution, we will witness that the exporters will offer their currency in one system and the importers will receive this currency at any price. The price of the currency does not make a difference for the importer and is only effective for the consumer.

Why the increase of iPhone with Chinese part number

Research shows that there are more Chinese or CH part number iPhones in the market than other models. Abgari told Digiato about the reason for this: “For merchants, the part number of the phone does not matter, and the important thing is that the product is available globally. The item with the Singapore part number is less because the demand for the model in this country is less. When the iPhone is produced in the global market for a part number, it is based on the demand of that country because the product is one and when there is no demand, there is no production. For this reason, because China has a demand, the production with this part number and availability in the market is more.

In response to Digiato’s question about the outlook for iPhone 13 family prices due to iPhone import restrictions, Abgari said:

“All over the world, the government decides on the import of a commodity. For example, the import of dry fruits or Iranian carpets is prohibited in a global market, or Brazil imposed a ban on the sale of iPhones without chargers for a while. Currently, there are no restrictions on the import of any Apple product except for one model. Technology is coming to our country in sync with the world, for example, Galaxy S23, which was unveiled on February 12 worldwide, was released in the Iranian market a week later, which shows that we are up-to-date.”

Although the secretary of mobile importers talks about the lack of restrictions on the import of other Apple products, some believe that iPhone 13 is the last model of Apple phones that entered the Iranian market, and this in itself fuels the fluctuation and increase in the price of the iPhone.

“We don’t have a shortage of iPhones in the market”

“Mohammedreza Ramzan”, the head of Tehran’s audio and visual devices, mobile phone and accessories sellers’ union, said in a conversation with Digiato that there is no shortage in the mobile phone market: “We don’t have any shortage in the market even for the iPhone, but because the price of this “The phone has become a luxury item and not everyone buys an iPhone.”

He described the situation of the mobile market as normal and stated:

“We have 1.5 to 1.8 million monthly phone users in the mobile market, which has met this need. The process of ordering and importing mobile phones has not stopped and will not stop, even if sometimes the currency price goes up and down. There is no recession in the market, and people may not buy bread for the night, but they buy mobile phones.

In response to the reason for the fluctuations in the price of the iPhone in the market, Ramadan said that this is due to changes in the currency, and with its fluctuation, the price of the phone also changes by itself. He emphasizes that this price fluctuation due to exchange rate changes is not only for mobile phones and includes other goods as well: “There were fluctuations before, but now the changes in the exchange rate are noticeable and the changes in the price of goods are more visible.”

It seems that iPhone lovers in Iran, if they want and can still buy the existing phones of this brand, they should have a precise timing because it is different if they buy “now” or “now”.