Could just be an oversaturation of phones and less demand. I'm pretty sure that most people have a bunch of phones. Economy's not so hot anymore. As for expensive phones, what makes the expensive ones so much "better"? $50 smartphones have been available for years that can watch and make videos.
There was an article about how the electronics Black Friday sales were kind of a bust with stores "marking down" prices, while covering up the regular price which was actually the same as the sale price!