Originally Posted by tdenson:
“C'mon, what a naive statement. Tell me a manufacturer who takes less profit than he could !!!!”
No. You misunderstand my comment. The hardware in an iPhone is (these days) fairly mid-range. The screens are small and lower res. The chips are fewer cores. The camera units arent top end. On the 5c they have even returned to plastic.
There doesnt seem to be any part of the iPhone that screams 'top spec' (IMHO). Im not saying that this makes the phone awful or slow (iOS seems to run very well on the kit) but other phones have surpassed the hardware in the iPhone. There are phones with 40mp cameras, there are big HD screens, there are 8 core chips, there are metal unibodies, there are bigger batteries etc etc.
iPhones no longer lead the market
from a hardware perspective.
Apple do, however, take a notoriously high profit margin from their phones. This is fairly well documented.
This is therefore where their profit comes from. They dont go for the full 'spec' battle with other handset makers and they add a considerable 'wedge' on top for profit.
Its obviously not a bad way of working for Apple as they make huge profits. They have priced their products at a point that they know a percentage of the population are willing to pay.
That was the point I was making.
And with regards to the 'slum factories' things are improving but Apple have not had a good recent history for the conditions that those producing the handsets have to work in.
.... and yes I know that other manufacturers also use the same firms and I dont approve of them either, but with billions in the bank a few % less profit might just make life more bearable for many people involved in building your new iPhone.
All this doesnt seem to bother some people. And thats fine, entirely up to the individual.
All my opinion only - im sure many will disagree.