New Delhi, Oct. 30 -- Every year, smartphone launches follow a familiar script. A company unveils a new flagship device with a more advanced camera system, a faster processor, some new AI capabilities, and a design tweak significant enough to distinguish it from its predecessor. And thousands of people convince themselves that their perfectly functional phone has somehow become obsolete.

Increasingly, that decision comes with a much higher price tag than it once did.

Premium smartphones that cost Rs.60,000 or Rs.70,000 not so long ago now routinely cross the Rs.1 lakh mark. Flagship variants can cost substantially more. Foldables, even more. Smartphone brands argue that the increase in price reflects better hardware, more advanced imagi...