That's the whole point - this thread wasn't really "Apple related" until people chose to single Apple out. So if anyone is trolling its not me.

I think its pretty much been covered now anyway - the bill of components is not the total cost to the manufacturer.

And I thought it was in the public domain that Apple's margins are in the ballpark of 40% anyway.

Same goes for Samsung, Sony, LG, etc. The only difference there is that if you want additional storage, you have the option of just bunging in a larger SD card.

Surprised that I haven't noticed anyone comparing to watches, but then the flagship/high end phones and watches are completely different. High end watches tend to have something to make them stand out - build, specific features, umbelievably complex mechanisms, rare/expensive metals. The closest mobiles are from Vertu, TAG (do they still make a watch?) ....

At the end of the day, these phones are priced at the level that the manufacturers believe the market will bear. And so far, despite a small percentage of techies complaining about the pricing of Apple kit, the market seems to have no problems. Apple still have the single best selling phones on the market.

Not to the same extent as Apple there will be no higher profit margins than on an iPhone. Closest I would imagine are Samsung simply based on volume of sales. However in the context of this thread yes all have profit margins to varying degrees

The question of whether they are artificially high prices, well like anything of course they are. The question of whether they are warranted is irrelevant if consumers are willing to pay.

I paid £500 for my Galaxy Note 2 last year but then I use it a significant amount. As well as the phone functions, I check and send emails, browse the internet, play games, read books, watch videos, listen to music/radio, take photos, use it as a sat nav. To the OP who compares it to laptop costs, I would say that my phone is easily more valuable to me than a laptop.

When you're using a device so much during your day to day life it would seem illogical to not spend as much as you can.

I'd agree with that idea that a smartphone, even an expensive one, is still not that bad for what you get. Call me old fashioned, but back in the day a good walkman, a good camera and a good phone would have added up to quite a bit. These days you can get all of the above plus a whole lot more in a single device.

I was speaking in general terms about the cost of components alone versus the cost of the phone to the business.

As I said, it's well documented that Samsung have an enormous global marketing budget, and so they need to sell the phone well above the actual cost of components to allow for these additional costs, and then make a profit on top.

This is about the cost of flagship phones in general, not just one company. I'm sure the cost of hiring Robert Downey Jnr for their ad campaign was not an insignificant cost to HTC.

Marketing alone is a multi-billion pound business, but if you only count components in the cost of a phone, then you're not giving the full picture. All phone companies are out there to make a profit, so if their costs are higher than just electronics and manufacturing, they have to add more to the price to make a profit.

If we had any actual "unit cost" which factored in the cost of production, marketing, etc etc, that would be a lot more interesting as we may get to see who is adding the most profit per unit.

So have I been all the way through, right from the first point that someone mentioned the component cost of the iphone. I have never just mentioned components at any stage if you had read my posts you would clearly see that was not what I said.

Additionally all phone manufacturers count advertising overheads etc into the cost of a phone before adding 'a profit', not just Samsung.

However again as I pointed out components are by far the highest cost for any phone the rest is just additions of smaller £'s added on top not massive amounts as alluded to.

So the bottom line here seems to be that a couple of people have hijacked a reasonable question by the OP into the reasons why we shouldn't buy a product. Well if you think a company is ripping you off then the answer is simple, don't but their product, there are plenty to choose from.

To answer the OP, no I don't think they artificially high, whatever that may mean. It's a product that will only sell if people want to buy it, as has been pointed out on this thread the manufacturer will charge whatever people will pay. Even Apple are a mass producer of gadgets but in most cases they can sell at a higher price because a significant number of people are prepared to buy the product. Now if you ask whether or not they are value for money then you will undoubtedly get a different set of responses.

The question isn't are they worth it especially not any specific model, it was more are phones more expensive than they need be relative to laptops etc.

As shown the iphone downwards through all major manufacturers probably, they do have large mark ups compared to laptops etc. The ONEPLUS ONE/MOTO G show what could be done from all manufacturers if desired.

The real question is, is do many punters actually like paying big money for 'top' phones!

I can't imagine anyone likes paying money for anything

Cheap phones are available for those that do not want to pay the price.

I bet they do, why do you think phones are different to anything else in life?

I would imagine many people would turn their nose up at a oneplus in favour of a samsung or iphone for many reasons, whether that be image, perception whatever.

But clearly a lot of people do.

That's why people wear labels and buy handbags, shoes, and other goods that can cost thousands, yet still only do what something far cheaper can do almost, or equally, well.

I'd be pretty sure that high end laptops have healthy profit margins too.

Its an interesting question though - would punters prefer to get great products for peanuts?

I would bet not myself I would say margins on laptops/computers are pretty low in comparison. Even expensive macs would be a good bit lower than the iPhone.

You can such as the on oneplus and and moto g but they will not sell anywhere near the levels of iPhone etc.

I would argue that there is still a perception about paying more gets you more and the status of paying and owning what is considered the best.

It's how it works for just about everything in life, from the food we eat, to the furniture we put in our homes, the clothes we wear, the TV we watch, the car we drive...

Some people would be ashamed to be seen with a cheap phone by their peers, while others wouldn't give a stuff - and may even be proud to say that they're not fashion victims and prefer to save money.

I don't spend big bucks on labels, but do like flagship mobile devices and also bought a very expensive TV 5-6 years ago (and one day will likely save up and get a decent Ultra-HD TV). It's my choice, and while I think it's mad to pay £80-100 for a shirt, or £100+ for a pair of jeans, I don't think £500 is too much for a phone that I am virtually glued to 24/7!

(Yet, I also think the Moto G and Nexus 5 are exceptional value for money and would recommend either to anyone).

I can see. The iPhone 6 sim free price increasing with the screen size increasing even though the iPhone is I likely the highest priced phone around already.

Research, patents, product development, after sale support etc. all must cost these companies an absolute fortune, so I guess they have to pay for it somehow. Still agree the prices are too high in comparison to manufacturing costs though.

True for 5S but doesn't explain 5C it's the same internals as 5 expect for a upgraded LTE Modern in plastic. But costs nearly as much as 5S.

Are the internals exactly the same? If not it would still have required R&D.

Even in a 5c you have marketing, support, etc. Each device will have to take its share of the overall business costs.

R&D, marketing, distribution - these costs don't magically cease to apply just because becauss a product is a year old.

I wonder whether people actually read threads at all

Would of been no/very little R&D costs as the LTE Modern would of been developed for the 5S and they decided to include it for the 5C. Or they simply could of just brought some new LTE Moderns that might of actually been cheaper for them.m

On there entire bias the difference was only 80 pounds between the devices at launch I think the development of new processors and fingerprint reader was definitely a cost. So clearly it was an artificially high price for the device.

True a device does normally have to share costs but normally it is done at a reasonable level where the focus is actually on the device that is new not on what is basically a rebranded device.

Apple needs to do something big with the next iPhone, as it's the 'big' update not the mid-life refresh. Therefore I expect that the screen is what will make it all new, exciting and a must-have.

To be honest, I doubt it will suddenly see a price hike.

What might confuse matters is if there are to be two versions, with different screen sizes, although I can't see why Apple would do that. It would make more sense to have the iPhone 6 with the larger display and an iPhone 5c successor with the smaller screen.

At this point, there will be a more effective way to differentiate between the two - and might help the cheaper model sell.

Of late, new Apple products have sometimes appeared with a slightly lower retail price than the model it has replaced so it could well be that the iPhone 6 is the same price as the 5s was, or maybe even a little lower. Apple can afford to take a small hit and still protect the brand.

And Apple can also perhaps lower the price on a model that nobody will buy anyway (e.g. an 8 or 16GB base model) and then bump up the prices for the models that will sell. People will always quote the lowest price after all.

Is it?? The price of the iPhone does not look much out of line with other "high end smartphones" such as the S5, HTC One etc.

Anyway this was not (supposed to be) a "pick on Apple" thread!

Apple have just announced price cuts on some iMac, MacMini and the Apple TV for the UK and Europe. Maybe it's a precursor to a price drop on the new iPhone when it arrives. On the other hand they may have to increase the price to cover the loses on the above items. Either way people will still buy them just because they like the way they work with all their other Apple kit. Not everyone wants to root or side load or mess about with their phone, they just want it to work properly straight out of the box and have loads of choice in Apps.