Interesting video, particularly the statistics around where the majority of the market is in Western countries. If you buy a base S24 in Germany, you are actually spending less money on your phone than over 70% of the country, for example. The ultra high end market absolutely dominates despite seemingly everyone complaining about how expensive phones are these days.
The video doesn’t really answer the question, though. It sort of implies that it’s because we are keeping smartphones for longer and because they are becoming increasingly important parts of our lives as our screen time also increases. Manufacturers are also able to bait consumers into buying these crazy expensive phones with trade-in and bundle deals (throwing in “discounted” watches and TWS earbuds, for example).
At least in America often the top-tier phones will get the best deals. An example is various carriers a few times a year will give you a new iPhone or Galaxy for free or low cost if you trade in an iPhone or Galaxy (often running promos even taking outdated and broken handsets Example Verizon iPhone 15 Pro deal). Very often budget handsets get little to no subsidy and worse trade-in deals. How many people facing the option of trading in a broken phone for a free high end model, or getting enough trade in value to buy a cheaper basic handset, would not choose and iPhone Pro Max.