Back in 2017, Apple shocked the world by demonstrating the world's first-ever $1,000+ smartphone, the iPhone X. As is the case with everything else, the industry followed Apple's footsteps not too long after. Now, that figure is deemed appropriate for any flagship smartphone, with some models breaching the $,1500 mark.
That raises an interesting question about its affordability. Those sitting on piles of cash shouldn't have trouble, but what about the layman. How many hours does one have to work in order to be able to buy a high-end smartphone? Moneysupermarket did a meticulous deep dive into the issue and determined the Galaxy S22 and Galaxy S22 Ultra's affordability on a nation-by-nation basis.
Egyptians have to work for three and a half months to buy a Galaxy S22
In Egypt, the base Galaxy S22 with 128 GB of storage costs a whopping $1,028, about $200 more than its $849 price tag. That, combined with Egypt's low average hourly wage means that one has to work for about 1,095 hours (137 days/3 and a half months) in an eight-hour workday to buy a base Galaxy S22. On the flip side, the Swiss have it the easiest, as they have to work 32 hours or four workdays to buy the Galaxy S22.
Next up are Ukraine, Indonesia, Philippines, Morocco and Jordan, where one has to work 92, 85, 79, 68, and 52 days, respectively, to buy a Galaxy S22. Unsurprisingly, the United States comes in at number three with four days' worth of labor required, followed by Singapore, Australia, Norway and Denmark.
Now, it goes without saying that the above data is based on averages and might not be accurate on an individual level. It does, however, highlight the stark differences in affordability and why Samsung treats some markets better than others. After all, someone in a prosperous country is more likely to have $1,000 in spending money compared to someone in a country where that's two months' salary.
Join SamMobile’s Telegram group and subscribe to our YouTube channel to get instant news updates and in-depth reviews of Samsung devices. You can also subscribe to get updates from us on Google News and follow us on Twitter.
