End of value-for-money smartphone era?

"OnePlus launches its latest smartphone, Nord" "Oppo updates its Reno series with Reno4 Pro priced at 34,990 INR"

Well, the launch news goes on and every other week a new smartphone is launched. So what is different? How and what has really changed in the market?

It's definitely the pricing, which has gone up by almost 20%. Smartphones are getting pricier day by day. Mid-range smartphones are now crossing the 20k mark and the premium mid-range ones are now priced above 30k. Also, we can see a smartphone which is priced at 20k is using the same processor as of the 11k priced one. Things have really changed in a while. There are two main reasons for it, the first one being the GST hike and the second one, the massive increase in the demand for digital gadgets in this pandemic.

In my opinion, till 2019 the smartphone market was really competitive where we could get the best value of our money. Also missing some brands in the mid-range which created the real hype in the smartphone market, such as the Motorola G series and other premium brands like HTC which used to provide us with quality phones, but sadly can't be seen anywhere these days.

So, guys, what's your take on this? Also, what was your first smartphone?