Originally Posted by Stuart_h:
“i think a cheaper iPhone would be bad (in the long term) for Apple. With the iPhone you currently have a level playing field. You buy a new phone in Q4 of a year and you have the same phone as everyone else who buys into the Apple way (maybe more or less memory but the same phone). You have the same phone whether you are a film star or a vicky pollard. its a leveller. From people i know this is a benefit of the Apple ecosystem. If you bring in another model then you go the way of Samsung, HTC etc where there is 'brand snobbery' within the company brand itself. Some S3 users see themselves as superior to S3 mini users for example. Im not saying this is right but its inevitable. Same would happen with the iPhone. People with the lesser model would be looked down on by some of those with the more expensive model. In the same way that (a minority) used to say that people with Android phones simply couldnt 'afford' an iPhone that same minority will turn on the budget users.
The 'warm' feeling that apparently comes with iPhone ownership would become diluted and that cant be good.
Its already been seen to a degree with the iPad mini where (a minority of) iPad users are/were claiming that mini owners simply couldnt afford 'the real thing'. Obviously wrong as the small form factor is popular for other reasons but the comments were still made ....”
they aren't interested in how their users feel though.
it's just about marginal pricing. being able to get from people what they are willing to pay.
you pick your price point say £600. you could still sell them at a profit at say £400 and more people would buy them. you could even sell some at £800 but you would sell less. when you have one model you have to pick the price point to maximise profit.
but if you can differentiate you can potentially get the £800 people to pay £800 and still make a profit out of the £400 people too. it's why your hairdresser offers a discount for pensioners.
despite the fact that apple practically print money the market demands growth.