And regarding support, I'll give you a simple scenario, in fact a couple:
- Scenario 1: My Galaxy Note 1, obviously now out of warranty, suddenly wouldn't boot up. I've been a great flasholic since Windows mobile days (Omnia 2 <3), and I do read a lot on XDA about the hardware, so tried some tweaks and nothing worked. Surprisingly, the mobile would only boot when connected to mains, and that too for only 5-7 seconds, and then poof, off with a flash (the 1st time it went off, it fired the phone's flash). I suspected an IC issue, maybe the voltage supplied to the device wasn't being regulated (also changed batteries to check. Couldn't reflash recovery or ROM as the phone wouldn't boot, not even in the recovery mode). Showed it to the official service centre. As expected, hardware issue and the mobo had to be changed. Cost - 13k ! Got it checked from non-official centres, again, they confirmed that the mobo had to be changed. Cost - 9k ! Checked at 3 non-official places and that was the cheapest I could get. So a mobile which will not even fetch me 9-10k today needs more than that to be repaired.
I would not compare the selling price of note 1 after two years with the repair cost. I would compare what % the repair costs based on how much i paid for it. So 9k on a cost price of 30k+ is fine, because to replace that note will put you out 20k+ more. The replacement cost is more important in this case.
I have a friend who bought the note 1 same time as you, couldn't be happier, asked him if he wanted to replace it and he said why ? then i realised what he meant. The screen is 5.3 inches. Back in 2012 this must have been really big. But today with current flagship screen sizes around the same, buying a note 1 in 2012 seems like an inspired decision.
Often i wonder WHO is buying second hand phones ? do people here when they want to get a phone hit quickr or do they check out the never ending flood of blurbs about this or that NEW phone. People here are obsessed with warranty and it needs to be vendor warranty and not some lame seller warranty. Maybe there are others who would rather get second hand instead of paying upfront for new. So the buyers are resellers who will buy second hand with or without warranty so long as they can get a commission selling it on to someone else.
Compare that to an el cheapo phone like Redmi 1S or Redmi Note. 7-10k (same/comparable innards vis a vis costlier Samsung/LG/Sony phones). You use it for a year or more, goes out of warranty. Firstly, if the company has repair parts, the pricing would be much lesser than what Samsung/LG ask.
So lets check out the spare parts scenario for these chinese phones. How many chinese companies can you
see here ?
Huawei, lenovo, motorola & zte ie established Chinese brands.
Nothing for Xiaomi, Gionee, Oppo or OPO.
On Xiaomi's
site we find screens for mi-2 & hong/redmi. If you break the screen ok but I see no mobo's on offer.
So for a 10k phone, you might pay 6k for a mobo. And even if they don't have the parts and you've to forego the device, it is much easier to put away a 10k device vs a similarly spec-ed 18k one just because it has a "name" branding on it.
What branding implies, is a vendor of standing that can shift units in the millions, therefore there is a good chance of them requiring spares. More demand.
How many would want to pay 6k to repair a phone that cost 10k ? cheaper than spending 10k for a new better phone. But with the low end improvements can be significant year on year that going to 10k isn't that hard.
- Scenario 2: A friend of mine got one of those HTC Desire models last year. Warranty got over and recently the charging port refused to work. Official service center wants to change the whole mobo, asking for 12k (mobile costed 17-18k) ! Local guys do a temp repair for 400 bucks. Works for 10 days and then the same cycle again. So basically, she spent 18k on a phone which demands another 12k this year. Again compare it to Redmi or Mi series.
yeah, same story with the mid range nokias. Had noticed earlier people complaining with nokias that were around the 10-15k mark that mobos were going close to the 10k mark ie 720. So the mobo price remains similar across ranges, what hits people is the percentage
Am a bit leery of USB OTG. Your friend make much use of it with her desire ?
People use it with flash drives and if you're not careful (ie clumsy) it is easy to damage the one & only port you also use to charge the phone. How to fix it ? mobo repair (!) I keep telling people to get a device with damn micro sd and only use otg for contingencies not all the time.
Even if shit hit the walls and I've to throw it away after one and a half years, who would be more sadder, the one who bought a lower spec-ed phone for 18k or the one who enjoyed a breezy Mi3 for 14k for the same time period ?
Hence why i think midranges are in no mans land with the entry of these chinese phones. Course we will have to see whether they can maintain that price advantage. How long can they keep it up. How long can they go with such thin margins. Only if they can sell in the millions.
