Motorola’s super-phone costs €350 in India and €700 in the EU: Simple economics, or taxing the rich?

Some things must be called out for what they are, and that’s what I’m about to do right now…

Motorola’s new Edge 50 Pro is (arguably) one of the best “mid-range” phones ever released. And that’s a big, bold claim – I know…

But there’s something else that makes the Motorola Edge 50 Pro truly “special”, and that’s the fact that it starts at roughly €350 in India (where it launched first), which is precisely what makes it the unbelievable deal that it is in Asia.

However, as it turns out, the same Motorola Edge 50 Pro will cost (wait for it…) €700 in Europe (US launch is pending). That’s seven – zero – zero.

You don’t need to Google it (and I didn’t need to either) – this is the most staggering market-to-market price difference I’ve ever encountered as a tech enthusiast and writer. Which means it’s time to talk about it!

What happened to Motorola’s math? Is this normal? Should people in Europe (and the US) start importing their phones, and also… Are phone-makers trying to “tax the rich”?

Motorola’s new mid-range phone costs €350 in India and €700 in the EU: Are phone-makers trying to “tax the rich”?

To answer the easiest question first, no – a phone costing as much as it costs in a
a different region of the world (be it China or India) is not “normal”. To put things into context, here’s a quick price comparison of some of the most popular phones in the EU and India:

Apple’s iPhone 15 costs:

• 800 USD (now $700 on Amazon Renewed)
• 950 EUR (now €735 on Amazon)
• 80,000 INR (that’s €900, or €50 less than the iPhone sold in the EU)

Samsung’s Galaxy S24 goes for:

• 800 USD (now $725 on Amazon)
• 900 EUR (now €725 on Amazon)
• 80,000 INR (or €900 – the same launch price as the EU)

The mid-range Galaxy A35 is priced at:

• 400 USD (now $340 on Amazon)
• 380 EUR (now only €300 on Amazon)
• 30,500 INR (that’s €340)

Is Lenovo’s decision to price the Edge 50 Pro at €700 justifiable? For the most part, not really…

However, trying to justify Lenovo’s wildly different pricing strategy is more or less impossible for me, and that’s because there’s no way the extra expenses for selling the Edge 50 Pro in Europe add up to €350 more compared to selling the phone in India.

While a €100-150 price difference would be more than reasonable if we took into account the average income, import fees (which are unclear), and of course, the EU’s tax policies, charging 2x more for the same phone is really, really hard to rationalize.

The Indian smartphone market has become incredibly saturated in the past few years, and is quickly catching up with the Chinese one. There are many mid-range alternatives to the Edge 50 Pro in India (where new phones seem to be launched on a weekly basis), which isn’t the case in Europe, where Chinese phone-makers take a while to release phones already released in China/India – or just don’t do it at all.

However, facts are facts, and the fact is that the Edge 50 Pro Lenovo is selling for €700 in Europe is exactly the same phone you can buy for half the price in India. And when we ignore the context of the respective smartphone market(s), the value proposition here is identical.

In fact, one could argue the price of the Edge 50 Pro should be as low as possible in Europe if Motorola wants to steal some of Samsung’s (countless) users – which should be the ultimate goal of competing with the South Korean giant.

Is Lenovo sabotaging Motorola? Should you buy the Motorola Edge 50 Pro, or get a “real” Android flagship for the flagship price?

In the end, while (as a European) I’ve always been pretty vocal when it comes to smartphone pricing in different regions of the world, what Lenovo has done seems to cross the line a little bit… And that’s a real pity, because the Edge 50 Pro (at the right price) looks like the best value mid-range smartphone I’ve ever seen. Period.

As you can read in our full Motorola Edge 50 Pro review, it brings a surprisingly (for Motorola) excellent camera system; a great software experience; super-fast charging; all-day battery life; and even satisfying performance for a “mid-range” phone. It’s also the only mid-ranger on the market that gives you a combo of premium extras including IP68 dust/water-resistance, as well as wireless + reverse wireless charging.

This makes the €350 Edge 50 Pro the best-value mid-range phone in the crazy competitive Indian market, and (unfortunately), a not-so-great “flagship” competitor in Europe, where it goes head to head with the likes of the Galaxy S24 (€725 on sale), Pixel 8 (€580 on sale), and the much cheaper Pixel 7a (€380).