Evidence is mounting that people are fed up with the sky-high cost of smartphones, and it's sparking a massive change in the industry

As prices increased and smartphone sales slumped, companies like Apple, Samsung, and Google revised their smartphone price strategies. Apple, for example, launched the less expensive $750 iPhone XR alongside its $1,000+ iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max last year. And in 2019, it positioned the less expensive $700 iPhone 11 as its new flagship device, whereas the pricier $1,000-and-higher models with triple-lens cameras were designated as the "Pro" versions. That alone could be interpreted as an acknowledgement that Apple realized a $1,000 smartphone wasn't for everyone.

Samsung, too, launched a less expensive version of the Galaxy S10 this year with its $750 Galaxy S10e, a smaller version of the S10 that lacks some features like an in-screen fingerprint sensor.

In May, Google released a cheaper version of its Pixel 3 called the Pixel 3a, which starts at just $480 and comes with several of the same features as the 2018 Pixel 3. "When we saw this happening, we participated again in premium smartphones but said we need to offer an alternative," Mario Queiroz, who was Google's general manager and vice president of product management for Pixel before recently moving into a new role at the company, previously said to Business Insider.

Launching more than one flagship smartphone isn't new for companies like Apple, Samsung, and Google. But whereas firms like Apple and Samsung would usually launch two smartphone models in different screen sizes before 2017, in more recent years they've shifted toward debuting even more devices at various price points, appealing to consumers with differing budgets.

Next year, the introduction of more 5G devices is expected to further fuel smartphone upgrades, as Cristiano Amon, president of the market-leading mobile chipmaker Qualcomm recently said to Business Insider. But considering today's 5G phones are typically more expensive than non-5G models, there's a chance consumers may be reluctant to adopt 5G, NPD points out. Samsung's Galaxy S10 5G, for example, launched at $1,300 in May.

"Overall awareness and purchase intent is high," Brad Akyuz, executive director and industry analyst at NPD Connected Intelligence, wrote in the research firm's announcement of the study. "But only a small segment of the market can afford these $1,000+ devices."