Umm yeah, that's kinda how the concept of profits work. You sell an item for more than what it costs to make it.
I've never said profit is bad. You're extrapolating and applying bias to my comment
That's a pretty bad slippery slope. If course, all other things equal, anything could be cheaper if a company is willing to take on less profits. It's not a phenomenon which is limited solely to Apple.
The question one should be asking is - does the iPhone continue to provide value for money for them despite that higher price tag? If so, buy it. If not, then don't buy it. How much Apple would earn from it is besides the point.
For me, it's an unequivocal yes.
That's fine. I always encourage individuals doing their own value proposition. But to my own, no the iPhone and now the mbp no longer fit my value proposition. Your opinion doesn't trump mine, and mine does t yours.
What I am paying for is Apple's expertise in being able to put all these parts together into a smartphone which offers a unique user experience that no other company can replicate. It doesn't matter if other companies use more expensive products. If the final product still sucks or offers a bad user experience, what's the point?
It's the same rationale why a 5-star chef can command higher prices than a normal eatery even if both cooks use the same ingredients. Or why a more qualified plastic surgeon can charge more than a normal doctor.
But if the barrier of entry to that 5 star chef is a 2 hour wait for example, does the value potentially not change for each person?
What does it say when the iPhone offers a better user experience despite using cheaper parts compared to the competition who use more expensive, supposedly-better components?
I've used iPhones. I do not see that automatic better experience. Just like android. Or winphone. They all have things they do better than each other. Believing one is perfect and the others suck is naive.
Except that what you are claiming hasn't happened.
I
have never, ever claimed Apple is doomed. And in fact, if you've paid attention to the earnings calls, the last 3 quarters have seen Apple revenues and profits declining..
believing that Apple is infallible is also extremely naive. They, like every company needs to continue to improve itself and stay not ask for more than the market will bear. The market has also shifted considerably from under Apple. They will need to do something to stay on top for the long term. Once any market reaches maturity, the price structure almost always shifts, as the costs go down due to economies of scale,
You are not the first self-styled "analyst" to claim that the iPhone would meet its doom at the hands of cheaper, better-specced Android alternatives. Ironically, the opposite has happened. As the average selling price of the iPhone increased, sales increased as well. Which means that more people actually bought the iPhone even as it became more expensive! The iPhones's recent record profits are testament to that.
This isn't true.
First off, the analyst title is on my business cards 
so it's not just me self styling... second of, go back and check the last year of Apple earnings that has seen lower volumes of sales, requiring increased margins to soften the decrease in volume. Apple has not increased its revenues and volumes in the last year. the very thing I've mentioned above, about maturing markets is happening.
There's something unique about the iPhone which makes it uncannily resistant to commoditisation as defined in a business textbook, if not flat out immune. At any rate, normal business theories don't seem to apple to Apple here.
I'm sorry. What's unique? In 2007 that argument might hold, but in 2016, there isn't so much uniqueness when the vast majority of products do similar, and in many cases more. The iPhone is a great phone. I'm not a doom sayer calling it crap. But to claim some magical inherent uniques comes from a point of naievity.
I can't explain it either, but it's there.
The iPhone didn't take the world by storm right from the beginning either.
Youre right . It was t until 2010 that the iPhone overtook the long time reigning champion in smartphone sales, blackberry. And there's a lesson there about hubris. Bbry biggest (but not only) failing was believing to themselves that they were the best, and that nobody could live without one of their uniquely functional devices, it's now 2016, and ask them now how theyve faired thinking just because they were #1 for a long time, that they were invincible
Considering that there is practically zero competition in the market for smart watches, I would say that Apple has all the time in the world it needs to make the Apple Watch a success.
I do agree here, android wear seems to have abandoned the smart watch market. Apple seems to be the only premium player who still cares. And sales have been flat since initial launch. Maybe they can make something's no of this market with more time. I'm not entirely convinced, but I'm not against the watch. Nice device. Not my style though.
Watch, as Apple continues to claw its way all the way to the top
Continues? They were already on top. Two to threeyears ago they were selling a lot more voluminous than today. Again, go read the last few quarters, their numbers have already started declining. They're not clawing up, they're holding on, the next 2 years will be the real telling of how apples future will look. But anyone claiming Dom and gloom is a sensationalist. But anyone claiming roses and glory is also missing the real picture.
