Apple Having Trouble Signing New Carriers Because of iPhone Subsidy and Minimum Purchase Requirements

[Stella]

I think it is.

OK. You and others are of course are very welcome to think what you are thinking.

I would call Apple 'high end'.. definitely not luxury.

We will agree to disagree.

So every tablet/smartphone manufacturer has its own boutique style store with a huge employee to customer ratio and 10 minute paperless device replacement process?

Apple is absolutely everything one would expect when it comes to a "luxury brand".

I had to wait two weeks to get my MacBook pro fixed at an Apple Store due to the volume.

Waiting two weeks to get a battery / logic board replaced is not luxury treatment.

 

[samcraig]

I think it is.

if you can buy it at Walmart, it's not a luxury brand.

Exactly.

 

[leon44]

iPhones are priced consistently with other high end phones.

Apple computers inners are made of standard components. Its laptops are based around the same price as gaming laptops ( but without the graphics - and less hard disc space ).

In 2013 Apple is a consumer brand. Not a luxury brand.

Does there need to be a luxury brand?

That's not even true.
Unsubsidised iPhones are much more expensive than unsubsidised 'other high end phones'
and like you say Apple's most basic laptop is 3x the price of any other company's basic laptop, it completely is a 'luxury brand'

And if it isn't, why isn't there one? There would be a market for luxury electronics if what you're saying is true, electronic devices are accessories as much as cars and clothes.

 

[bawbac]

A cheaper iPhone will win more customers. But plastic? how many hundreds of dollars does that aluminum cost?

Not much.
The move to plastic is a ploy to accept a lower margin on sales.
Apples greed and high margin for sales has peaked.
They must now accept a lower margin bu moving to plastic, that will save them about a $1 per phone.

 

[Stella]

That's not even true.
Unsubsidised iPhones are much more expensive than unsubsidised 'other high end phones'
and like you say Apple's most basic laptop is 3x the price of any other company's basic laptop, it completely is a 'luxury brand'

And if it isn't, why isn't there one? There would be a market for luxury electronics if what your saying is true, electronic devices are accessories as much as cars and clothes.

Not True for example:
Samsung S4 costs $700 in Canada as pay as you go. You could expect to pay another $50 to $100 for an unlocked model.

So, this is priced higher than the iPhone 16GB - which is $699 unlocked.

In some cases you actually get less for your money with a MacBook than you would from other manufacturers.

A luxury brand wouldn't make you wait 2 weeks for a freaking battery / logic board replacement - without offering a substitute machine to cover the time.

 

[Rogifan]

Ah, so this is why the stock is up $11 today.

 

[apolloa]

Requiring a minimum purchase seems silly to me. Having the iPhone set up with an exclusive carrier made since until the 2nd iPhone was released. After that, it is just a douche move by a major corporation. Apple should really drop the minimum purchase requirement and allow the iPhone on all carriers as long as the current hardware supports said carrier. What would the harm be in doing that?

It's bottom line would be harmed and share holders will hold Apple accountable. And at present Apple needs all the money it can get seeing as it's dropped in profits of late.
I agree with you totally, but, you can also blame the carriers as if the carriers all refused to sell the iPhone under Apples terms, then Apple would be forced to change them.

 

[lazard]

That's not even true.
Unsubsidised iPhones are much more expensive than unsubsidised 'other high end phones'
and like you say Apple's most basic laptop is 3x the price of any other company's basic laptop, it completely is a 'luxury brand'

And if it isn't, why isn't there one? There would be a market for luxury electronics if what you're saying is true, electronic devices are accessories as much as cars and clothes.

there is a luxury brand for phones, but it's not Apple. It's Vertu.

 

[monkor]

So every tablet/smartphone manufacturer has its own boutique style store with a huge employee to customer ratio and 10 minute paperless device replacement process?

Apple is absolutely everything one would expect when it comes to a "luxury brand".

Iconic logo? Yep. Boutique store as you mentioned? Yep. Massive profit margins? Check. All normal staples of a luxury brand. But Apple doesn't have one thing that usually is associated with a luxury brand: exclusivity.

Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Ferrari. You're not buying these things at WalMart. They're just not readily available and millions upon millions of them aren't being churned out of a factory. In the traditional sense Apple has all the staples but the one that's found in about every luxury brand.

Now we could certainly argue that Apple is changing the notion of what it means to be a luxury brand. But as it stands it's hard to lump them in with other luxury brands.

 

[DipDog3]

Adam Satariano writes nothing but negative articles about Apple.

I wouldn't be surprised if his paychecks were signed by Samsung.

 

[VoR]

So every tablet/smartphone manufacturer has its own boutique style store with a huge employee to customer ratio and 10 minute paperless device replacement process?

Apple is absolutely everything one would expect when it comes to a "luxury brand".

Shopping in an Apple store makes me want to self harm - I'd rather click a button on my computer and have it personally handed to me at my house the next day. I don't know what the 10 minute device replacement process is, but online shops will do the same in 1/10 of the time

I'd judge a brand on the quality of its products, as a savvy consumer I expect (and get) top quality service on all online purchases, whether it's a £1 throwaway import or a £10000 diamond encrusted willy-waver.

The iPhone is my favourite phone on the market at the moment, but like with virtually all my apple purchases I think it could be much better. I really couldn't care less about apple, their branding, their stock prices, what the BBC or some friends at work think about them. I'm a giant geek and will try, buy and make my own choice.

The biggest turnoff to me is the general public perception of apple. Ignorant consumers (and yes, rather arrogantly I think that the utter, vast majority are) are almost as silly as me disliking a product because someone else thinks its an expensive status symbol (subsidised smartphones are generally free, modern sim-free smartphones are pretty much the same cost, aluminium is a cheap material, etcetcetc)

 

[johncrab]

They have all of the big carriers signed up so what's left are the fly-by-night operators that resell bulk time and data from the big providers. They can either play ball or walk and keep selling prepaid phones.

 

[lilo777]

Really!?

In the field of phones, laptops, tablets,etc., if Apple isn't a luxury brand, who is?

Vertu is a luxury phone brand. Even among the regular phones iPhone is actually on a cheap side (judging by its Bill Of Materials) - compared to other premium phones.

 

[samcraig]

Adam Satariano writes nothing but negative articles about Apple.

I wouldn't be surprised if his paychecks were signed by Samsung.

Because someone couldn't just write negative articles about Apple without being on Samsung's payroll

 

[apolloa]

there is a luxury brand for phones, but it's not Apple. It's Vertu.

And the Tag Heuer phone:

http://www.tagheuer.com/int-en/mobile-phones/meridiist

But don't forget you can spend 15 million on an iPhone, the most expensive phone ever sold, in gold with diamonds:

http://www.technobuffalo.com/2013/04/17/worlds-most-expensive-iphone-5/

I guess that makes the iPhone the most luxurious and tasteless phone? But it doesn't make Apple a luxury brand.

 

[jonAppleSeed]

Apple should just buy all the emerging carriers

 

[apolloa]

Because someone couldn't just write negative articles about Apple without being on their payroll

haha those were exactly my thoughts too. Everyone that has a negative opinion on Apple is paid by Samsung or Google, apparently.

 

[Shrink]

Vertu is a luxury phone brand. Even among the regular phones iPhone is actually on a cheap side (judging by its Bill Of Materials) - compared to other premium phones.

Pointed taken.

Once again I display my all encompassing ignorance.

 

[alent1234]

That's not even true.
Unsubsidised iPhones are much more expensive than unsubsidised 'other high end phones'
and like you say Apple's most basic laptop is 3x the price of any other company's basic laptop, it completely is a 'luxury brand'

And if it isn't, why isn't there one? There would be a market for luxury electronics if what you're saying is true, electronic devices are accessories as much as cars and clothes.

a brand new Galaxy S4 is the same price as an iphone 5. Galaxy S3 was the same price when it came out last year.

high end phones have been $649 - $700 for decades

 

[AppleScruff1]

if you can buy it at Walmart, it's not a luxury brand.

And IMO, when iPhones and iPads own the largest part of their respective segments, that isn't indicative of a luxury brand. Unless I'm confusing luxury with exclusiveness, because iOS devices aren't exclusive at all. Good quality, yes. Luxury when the are so common, I'm not so sure. Of course this is just my take on the matter.

 

[alent1234]

Really!?

In the field of phones, laptops, tablets,etc., if Apple isn't a luxury brand, who is?

apple is a luxury brand only as much as Acura/Lexus/Infiniti are. just more expensive labels of a mass producer.

i used to drive an Accord and someone i know had an Acura TL. i checked the VIN's and our cars were made in the same factory

 

[macsrcool1234]

The only thing keeping Apple from being more successful is Apple them self.

 

[bbeagle]

if you can buy it at Walmart, it's not a luxury brand.

All of Apple is not luxury, just like all of GM is not luxury.

Apple computers are not sold at Walmart. Corvettes aren't sold at every GM retailer.

 

[Stella]

All of Apple is not luxury, just like all of GM is not luxury.

Apple computers are not sold at Walmart. Corvettes aren't sold at every GM retailer.

Neither are luxury brands sold at Best Buy / Futureshop... BB and FS sell the entire Apple range.

 

[leon44]

Not True for example:
Samsung S4 costs $700 in Canada as pay as you go.
So, this is priced higher than the iPhone 16GB - which is $699 unlocked.

a brand new Galaxy S4 is the same price as an iphone 5. Galaxy S3 was the same price when it came out last year.

Okay you're right there. If you Google 'is Apple luxury' the general consensus is 'yes-but', obviously this is subjective.
Just because it's 'consumer' means nothing, some foods are luxury and yet most people could afford them.
Apple is certainly, image-wise and statistically, unlike any other company. I think iPhones are luxury phones though, just like Macs have always been essentially luxury PCs.