I’ve frequently commented about the impact of handset subsidies on the mobile operator community. It got me thinking about the expectancy of consumers for low cost smartphones and the real price paid for the device by the mobile operator.

It side-tracked me a little and I spent the best part of the day trawling through handset manufacturer annual reports and quarterly statements to record what they call ‘Average Selling Price’ (ASP). This is the unit price of a device as charged to the mobile operators / distributors etc.

It turned out to be a useful exercise. Other than paying thousands for an analyst report I couldn’t find anyone else that had documented the changing ASP of key manufacturers over the last two years.

I published a short (single-page) summary of findings. It can be seen here.

Obviously there are a number of variables at play; not least of which the breadth of products on offer by each manufacturer potentially diluting the ASP, but it’s still fascinating to see how much more a mobile operator has to pay for an Apple iPhone for over a Nokia Smartphone.

Read it here.