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iPhones/Galaxy S5/Note 4... Consumer Price Gouging
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I'm not watching any parody videos because you're trying to make a joke out of my post. Not anymore of a joke than your OP.
You cannot compare those devices because they are much larger. But go ahead, by all means, carry an iPad mini and hold it up to your ear to make calls and place it in your shirt pocket when you're done. You do realize that just because something is smaller with roughly the same capabilities (especially in electronics) doesn't at all mean that the price should be lower? Do I want to pay close to $1000 for a "phone"? No. But I'm trying to get you to understand that you're not paying for just a phone.
But once again, if you feel the iPad Mini offers the same as an iPhone 6 Plus and does even more then by all means, carry it around and place it against your ear to make calls. BTW, iPad mini's aren't too cheap either once you add the cellular communications to them.
Each and every company spends a lot of time thinking out the cost of their products based on a host of factors. Ultimately they end up charging a price which they think their customers would be willing to pay given the product quality. If you want a 100 dollars cheaper Note series compared to an iPhone 6+ You can go ahead and buy that phone. Its your free will. Apple thinks it can charge a premium and that its customers are willing to pay for it given the quality of the product they are getting. Remember quality is subjective and so is how a firm assesses the quality of their product or how that quality translates to what a potential customer is willing to pay.
Similarly, Lenovo, One+1, Xiaomi may decide to charge 100-150$ less for a phablet compared to Samsung's Note series. Does this mean that Samsung is overcharging its customers? NO. Samsung prices its phones at a cost that it feels they can command given the market place and given what it perceives to be the quality of the device. If they could get customers to drop 1000$ on a Note4 they would gladly sell it at that price. Similarly if Apple felt that 850$ is too much for a particular version of the 6+ and that its customers would not be willing to pay that price despite the quality and feature set of its products then they would seriously reconsider lowering the price of the device in order to sell what they intend to produce.
Back in the day when i was in College there was this one kid who always used to turn the discussion to airline seats in an economic class. He could just never understand why Airlines were charging many times the price of Economy class tickets for business class seating even when the physical area occupied by a business class seat was not many times that of the economy class seat.
Its economics my friend, and Apple, Samsung, LG are all in it to make money and because of this they will continue to price their products at a level they think the buyers will pay given the quality of the product concerned.
Similarly, Lenovo, One+1, Xiaomi may decide to charge 100-150$ less for a phablet compared to Samsung's Note series. Does this mean that Samsung is overcharging its customers? NO. Samsung prices its phones at a cost that it feels they can command given the market place and given what it perceives to be the quality of the device. If they could get customers to drop 1000$ on a Note4 they would gladly sell it at that price. Similarly if Apple felt that 850$ is too much for a particular version of the 6+ and that its customers would not be willing to pay that price despite the quality and feature set of its products then they would seriously reconsider lowering the price of the device in order to sell what they intend to produce.
Back in the day when i was in College there was this one kid who always used to turn the discussion to airline seats in an economic class. He could just never understand why Airlines were charging many times the price of Economy class tickets for business class seating even when the physical area occupied by a business class seat was not many times that of the economy class seat.
Its economics my friend, and Apple, Samsung, LG are all in it to make money and because of this they will continue to price their products at a level they think the buyers will pay given the quality of the product concerned.You're not acknowledgeing that your comparison of the iPad vs the iPhone failed to show effectively any differentiation between the two, save for one being a phone and being smaller. This was all in the context of price justification.
And as for iPad Minis, the entry Cellular is $529. The entry iPhone 6 Plus is $749, a difference of 29%. This is significant.
Where is the outrage over $2 soft drinks that cost only pennies to make? Or $14 beer at the ball park?
The iPhone is in high demand therefore it can be priced higher. Simple economics. It has nothing to do with the cost to manufacture. Apple needs a lot of phones out there to drive other services, otherwise they might be priced even higher.
The iPhone is in high demand therefore it can be priced higher. Simple economics. It has nothing to do with the cost to manufacture. Apple needs a lot of phones out there to drive other services, otherwise they might be priced even higher.
Each and every company spends a lot of time thinking out the cost of their products based on a host of factors. Ultimately they end up charging a price which they think their customers would be willing to pay given the product quality. If you want a 100 dollars cheaper Note series compared to an iPhone 6+ You can go ahead and buy that phone. Its your free will. Apple thinks it can charge a premium and that its customers are willing to pay for it given the quality of the product they are getting. Remember quality is subjective and so is how a firm assesses the quality of their product or how that quality translates to what a potential customer is willing to pay.
Similarly, Lenovo, One+1, Xiaomi may decide to charge 100-150$ less for a phablet compared to Samsung's Note series. Does this mean that Samsung is overcharging its customers? NO. Samsung prices its phones at a cost that it feels they can command given the market place and given what it perceives to be the quality of the device. If they could get customers to drop 1000$ on a Note4 they would gladly sell it at that price. Similarly if Apple felt that 850$ is too much for a particular version of the 6+ and that its customers would not be willing to pay that price despite the quality and feature set of its products then they would seriously reconsider lowering the price of the device in order to sell what they intend to produce.
Back in the day when i was in College there was this one kid who always used to turn the discussion to airline seats in an economic class. He could just never understand why Airlines were charging many times the price of Economy class tickets for business class seating even when the physical area occupied by a business class seat was not many times that of the economy class seat.
I know it's "economics my friend".
If you're not getting it, I'm interested in others who are interested in peering into this to see if there's any conspiracy or the like amongst the manufacturers and industry. Unlike you, I don't just believe whatever a fruity company feels like advertising...
You forgot to add the Apple sticker tax
Edit.....forgot we don't get apple stickers anymore
You didn't get stickers ????
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This whole thing seems point less if you think it's to much or over priced it's simple don't buy it. The market will bare what it will bare.
There is outrage. We've had press here locally and angry fans regarding professional sports teams sky high concession prices.
You do realize that you can only use the iPad mini's cellular for data only right? You cannot buy a calling plan for it. Does that justify the whole $220 difference? Not the whole amount but you're argument keeps failing to recognize that technology gets expensive when using smaller parts.
I have my masters in electronics so I'm very well-versed in the prices for parts but you also have to factor in the costs of labor and R&D to put all these smaller parts together and maintain stable operation. It's not as cut and dry as you make it out to be. And an iPad mini isn't anywhere as desired as an iPhone is. Price plays a part with the want of the consumer.
Then simply do not buy their products. That would send some message across especially if millions of people who normally bought apple products followed you. Like I said, Apple charges 100 more then a Samsung which may charge 100 more compared to some other OEM. At the end of the day its what they decide to price their products at. Should there be a cap on profit margin for a consumer electronic company? I don't think so, i think its a free market if Apple thinks their products can command a particular price then they have the right to go out and risk their company and price a product at that price. Similarly if a Lenovo decides to do a 2000$ Phablet they have the right to go out and demand that price. Its their phone, and if the device does not sell due to a very high price its Lenovo that will ultimately hurt financially. I tend to think that a 100-150$ premium for apple products (compared to a samsung product) is not all that large given that apple's phone is the highest selling device in cellular phones and used as an industry benchmarks where everyone else compares their devices to it. You may think apple is overcharging which is fine as well.
I also feel comparing devices that are essentially not phones is also rather absurd. You can buy cheap tablets with calling features for like 300 bucks..Yet the Note costs 700+ dollars. Is this justified? Are they even the same product category? If I produce something as an OEM that costs me 500$ to make I may only be able to sell it for 550$ due to many other factors (the reputation of my product, the quality of my product, the reputation of my brand, the desirability of my brand etc etc etc) whereas if those factors play out differently I may be able to sell a product @ 600$ that only cost me 200$ to make. That does not mean I did not spend a ton of money, or deliver a ton of popular consumer products to the satisfaction of my customers to be in the position that I am currently in i.e. able to command high margins for my products without hurting their demand.
What conspiracy are you referring to? Any company is fully entitled to demand a price it thinks it can command for a product. You can tear open a device and try to estimate a BOM for that device but what does that have to do with the fact that there is some sort of conspiracy at play here? Companies that have commanded a strong liking to their products have traditionally also charged a premium for them. Sony did that when it was considered the highest quality, Nokia did that in mobile phones when it was the dominant player. Blackberry did so as well with certain products.
Another point here is that you are looking at device BOM. What about iOS and the different services apple integrates in house? Why would apple not charge a premium if it feels its in a unique position to deliver hardware, software and services integrated into a package all done by apple? At the end you pay for the user experience with the device and not the user experience with the RAM, Hard disk, Camera mega pixels sensors and touch ID sensor. The same logic translates to Samsung vs some of the lower end Android OEM's. If you wish to pay a price that is closest to the BOM you should look @ some of the Chinese Android OEM's as Samsung is most likely going to be too much "profit" compared to them. There is also little justification for the price a Mercedes Benz commands for some of its cars compared to a Kia.
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I get that the iPhone is designed to be a phone that you can call out on it. But a calling plan is itself not free and costs money which is an important economic point.
The other main point is that the iPad rMini is a device that can do effectively pretty much everything an iPhone does but is itself much larger where it is a full blown tablet. Yet the entry cost for it compared to the iPhone 6 Plus is $220 less. Let's also not conveniently ignore the iPad's telecommunications capabilities out of the box:
- FaceTime calls;
- iMessage for sending and receiving text messages to others running iOS or even Macs;
- VOIP like Skype or Google Voice; and
- Continuity where if you do in fact have an iPhone you can do phone calls on the iPad.
It has nothing to do with part prices, R&D or any other technical explanation. This is all about economics and supply and demand. The demand is there because it is subsidized. The same reason healthcare and education is so expensive in the US because the government subsidizes it.
Outside the US, Apple has lower market share where this is no subsidized model.
The reason why Apple phones cost more than Samsung is because of the Apple premium.
The reason iPhone costs more than iPad is because of the subsidized model.
You make a good point however, you're not entirely correct. You seem to imply that iPads are not subsidized. If that's the case, you're mistaken. They are offered by some carriers subsidized.
Having the cellular portion work for data only does not dramatically alter the iPad's cost. Really, the only things missing are the proximity sensor, handset speaker, and an extra mic. All of those together are probably barely $5 in costs. The screen on the other hand is a very expensive piece of the puzzle, as is the significantly larger battery. And even if for accounting purposes they leave the phone stuff out of the R&D (keep in mind most of the RF research has to be done since a cellular modem is still present), the R&D costs will not be tremendous at the volumes Apple pushes.
There is almost no way the iPad mini costs less to make than an iPhone, especially when you consider the iPhone is made in larger volume.
I already mentioned about supply and demand. Are you have no proof the parts don't play apart into it or do you? you're putting up a subjective opinion as to why Apple phones cost more than Samsung. No facts. you're completely wrong as to why the iPhones cost more than the iPad. It has nothing to do with subsidizing.
Google is your friend.
You can get a rMini with Bell for $70 on a 2 year plan.
http://www.bell.ca/Mobility/Products/Apple-iPad-mini-with-Retina-display
That's a pretty good deal. AT&T offers a $200 discount.
https://www.macrumors.com/2014/01/29/att-cellular-ipad-discount/
Most of these deals are very recent as iPad sales have slowed down. They weren't the norm for many years.
IPhones have had a $450 from the beginning.
You are correct.
Here's some background on the BOMC for the iPad Air:
Total cost of components that go into the latest iPad is between $274 and $361, depending on the model, which is still $42 cheaper than the entry-level iPad with Retina display. The priciest iPad Air component by and large is its Retina display and the touchscreen assembly.
The rMini is estimated at around $240 and up.
The point here is that the two most expensive components are much larger than that of the iPhone. And the iPhone gets more volume than the iPads, thereby putting more downward pressure on component pricing for suppliers of Apple for the iPhone.
IPad mini Retina costs $200 to make and sells for $400.
http://iphone.appleinsider.com/arti...to-ipad-mini-could-add-30-to-total-parts-cost
IPhone 6 16gb costs about $200 to make and sells for $650.
https://www.macrumors.com/2014/09/23/iphone-6-parts-cost-samsung-a8/
How do you explain the $250 difference if it isn't for the subsidy?
Where do I begin with this?
. Calling plans cannot be played in the role of economic costs. Apple has nothing to do with the calling plan prices. That's a service you're paying for to use a feature on the equipment and it most certainly is optional when you buy the phone outright. Just like paying for your electric bill. YOUR LIST OF FEATURES OF THE IPAD MINI AGAINST THE IPHONE 6 PLUS:
[*]FaceTime calls;
My rebuttal: Requires communication to another Apple device.
[*]iMessage for sending and receiving text messages to others running iOS or even Macs;
My Rebuttal: Requires communication to another Apple device.
[*]VOIP like Skype or Google Voice; and
My Rebuttal: Skype doesn't give you a private number unless you pay for one. I know because I pay for one. Google Voice STILL has issues. Not worthy of an everyday phone call and both of these will eat up your data plan or require a fast and stable wifi connection which isn't an option everywhere.
[*]Continuity where if you do in fact have an iPhone you can do phone calls on the iPad.
My rebuttal: Well then that defeats your entire argument of not paying the high price of an iPhone when you can spend less and use an iPad.
LMAO, and you called MY earlier post a joke?
The rMini is not estimated at $200 for BOMC. It's more in the area of $240. But anyway, this doesn't take away from your question/point.
The question I have, which is why is the iPhone so much more money.
And how do you equate subsidizing a phone with any of this? You do realize who subsidizes the phone right? It's not Apple, it's the carrier.
An Ipod, Phone, Gps, Mini computer all in 1 ? heck i'd say thats well worth whatever apple is charging
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