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Unlocked iPhone 5 16Gb US $849 32GB $949? OMG!

Anonymouslives said:
I provided evidence to my assertion, you have none.
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You provided evidence proving your own statement incorrect. :rolleyes:

Notice I was originally responding to your first post of it costing $100 which is completely untrue. I edited when I saw you proved yourself wrong. LOL
 
Geckotek said:
You provided evidence proving your own statement incorrect. :rolleyes:

Notice I was originally responding to your first post of it costing $100 which is completely untrue. I edited when I saw you proved yourself wrong. LOL
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$188 for the 4s, likely $150 for the iPhone 5. Wrong by $50? Wow, that's some difference!
 
Anonymouslives said:
$188 for the 4s, likely $150 for the iPhone 5. Wrong by $50? Wow, that's some difference!
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Wrong, the BOM since the 3Gs has not dropped below $178 for a 16GB version. When Apple finds a savings in one component, they spend it on upgrades in others. In fact, it was $173 on the 3G and has been steadily rising, not going down.

The difference in your post and the actual cost is 80%. That is not a small mistake.
 
Anonymouslives said:
$188 for the 4s, likely $150 for the iPhone 5. Wrong by $50? Wow, that's some difference!
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Why would it drop? New SoC on new process. New elements in the camera module. New tooling and machining. New screen with new in-cell tech that has been experiencing production issues.
 
Anonymouslives said:
This is likely the prices for someone on a carrier that is NOt eligible for an upgrade, NOT the unlocked price
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As stated before, the unlocked iPhone's have always had the same price as the unsubsidized phone. So far there is no reason to believe that has changed. And I will wait until the unlocked version is on sale at Apple.com to see if it did change.

And indications are that the unlocked iPhone 5 won't be available for pre-ordering( which again has precedent from the past) so that is one thing the article has wrong already.

BklynKid said:
But aren't those still subsidized a bit?
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Nope, those are the full unsubsidized prices of the iPhone. You're thinking of the $199/$299/$399+$250 early upgrade pricing.
 
Geckotek said:
Wrong, the BOM since the 3Gs has not dropped below $178 for a 16GB version. When Apple finds a savings in one component, they spend it on upgrades in others. In fact, it was $173 on the 3G and has been steadily rising, not going down.

The difference in your post and the actual cost is 80%. That is not a small mistake.
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They have been making, basically the same phone for 3 years now. There's no way the price has increased with each new unit. You're speculating on that eighty percent and have nothing to back it up. Not to mention you're at least clinically retarded if you're not taking into consideration the actual cost of the unit for a consumer, vs the build price. Even if it does turn out to be $649, we're talking about a difference of app 14% vs app 21%, not 80%.
 
Anonymouslives said:
They have been making, basically the same phone for 3 years now. There's no way the price has increased with each new unit. You're speculating on that eighty percent and have nothing to back it up. Not to mention you're at least clinically retarded if you're not taking into consideration the actual cost of the unit for a consumer, vs the build price. Even if it does turn out to be $649, we're talking about a difference of app 14% vs app 21%, not 80%.
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I'm not speculating anything, I'm quoting the BOM as researched by iSuppli which is the same source in the article you linked earlier. You really should do your research, you're coming off pretty clueless. I think if you're going to call someone clinically retarded you might start in the mirror.

And a $180 cost is an 80% increase over the $100 cost you quoted. Simple math.
 
Geckotek said:
I'm not speculating anything, I'm quoting the BOM as researched by iSuppli which is the same source in the article you linked earlier. You really should do your research, you're coming off pretty clueless. I think if you're going to call someone clinically retarded you might start in the mirror.

And $180 is an 80% increase over the $100 you quoted. Simple math.
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It was 100 vs 180 against $849, but because the consensus seems to be $649, I used that figure. $100. % wise against $649 and $180 % wise against $649 is not an 80% difference.
 
Anonymouslives said:
It was 100 vs 180 against $849, but because the consensus seems to be $649, I used that figure. $100. % wise against $649 and $180 % wise against $649 is not an 80% difference.
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Correct, but that's not what I've been discussing. I've never once referred to the difference of the cost vs the selling price. From the start I've only questioned your assertion that the cost was $100, which it is not. It will be very close to $180. Hence the 80% increase over the cost you quoted.

Edit: I haven't even started on the fact that you left out manufacturing costs which bump the 4S up to $196. Then they need to pay rent on their stores, pay their sales people, pay the electric bills, etc, etc...
 
Geckotek said:
Correct, but that's not what I've been discussing. I've never once referred to the difference of the cost vs the selling price. From the start I've only questioned your assertion that the cost was $100, which it is not. It will be very close to $180. Hence the 80% increase over the cost you quoted.

Edit: I haven't even started on the fact that you left out manufacturing costs which bump the 4S up to $196. Then they need to pay rent on their stores, pay their sales people, pay the electric bills, etc, etc...
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Yeah they pay thier chinese employees, what $2 per hr?

It is an undeniable fact that I stated $100 in reference to production price vs the retail cost to the customer.
 
Anonymouslives said:
The 16Gb 4s was $188 US to produce when it was released.

Since apple makes everything smaller, I would imagine the price to build their new phone is smaller as well. Maybe more like $150 US

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Wrong, it lists UK AND US prices

"The U.S. unlocked iPhone 5 will be released on Sept. 21 with pre-orders beginning Sept. 14. The 16GB model will retail for $849, 32GB for $949, and the price for the 64GB model has not yet been released yet"
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The guy just took the UK prices and converted them. There is no way Apple is going to sell unlocked phones at $200 higher than last year. Apple hasn't even announced the availability of the unlocked iPhone 5 in the US, so the article is wrong.
 
Anonymouslives said:
Yeah they pay thier chinese employees, what $2 per hr?

It is an undeniable fact that I stated $100 in reference to production price vs the retail cost to the customer.
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I'm talking about the US based and retail employees. You do realize they have a very large office in Cupertino as well as stores around the world. Right?

Yes, it is an undeniable fact that you stated $100 cost....which is way off.
 
Anonymouslives said:
They have been making, basically the same phone for 3 years now. There's no way the price has increased with each new unit. You're speculating on that eighty percent and have nothing to back it up. Not to mention you're at least clinically retarded if you're not taking into consideration the actual cost of the unit for a consumer, vs the build price. Even if it does turn out to be $649, we're talking about a difference of app 14% vs app 21%, not 80%.
Click to expand...

Almost nothing carries over from the 4S to the 5. The CPU is different. The chipset is different. The display is different. The Wi-Fi card is different. The body is completely redesigned. My guess is that the bill of materials will be slightly higher this year, but they will make that up by using the same basic design next year in the 5S/6.
 
Build cost will likely remain in the $200 area. Take into consideration the additional costs and $649 will still yield them their typical margin. Raising it above that will just be a money grab like the Lightning connector. If they get greedy with their popularity reality will drop them back. But as long as on contract prices remain the same it really won't matter as those who pay off contract or unlocked prices are minute here in the states. Though reports are that they have went up around $100 in many places across the pond where unlocked purchases are much more the norm than here. They could take a pretty good hit over there. When you start asking close to $1k for a phone your pricing yourself out of a lot of households.
 
There was an article a while back (few months old maybe?) that said Apple makes anywhere form 49-70% profit on each individual iPhone.

The ridiculous thing is, the price stays the same for an entire year, give or take, until the next iPhone. So up until September 12th, the 4S was still $649 unlocked. By that point, that's probably hovering closer to that 70% profit range. I scanned through the thread, and someone said it costs Apple about $188 dollars to make the iPhone 4S? If true, that's an insane profit. I could have read wrong, however.

And to put it into more perspective, the iPhone 4 was $549 unlocked (two year old phone) and the 3GS was $379, I believe, unlocked (3 year old phone). <- Think about that.

The same will be true for whatever the iPhone 5 costs. It'll be the same price until the next one, no matter if (really: when) production costs go down.


Also, a note about resale value, because I know it'll inevitably be brought up... there's no question resale value is higher with iPhones, but the math really isn't that dramatic. Just some rough figures:

If you buy an unlocked iPhone for $649 + tax = about $730 or so?
Resell for what? Say $400 or so? You lose $300+ bucks.

If you buy an unlocked Galaxy SIII, which I think now is in the mid-$500 range + tax, say it's somewhere over $600+. Resale for (what are they going for?). Even if you resale for $200, you'd lose ~$300 bucks.

Ditto the Galaxy Nexus from Google. $350 unlocked + tax = $400+.
Even if you resell this for as low as $100 bucks, you'd lose ~$300.

So, is the resale value that big of a deal when the price of the device is so high to begin with? Not sure.
 
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It's really sad to see misinformed people thinking it's unfair that something is sold so much higher than the materials it costs to make.

You have absolutely zero clue about research & development, workers to make the phones, marketing, legal fees, etc.
 
Geckotek said:
I'm talking about the US based and retail employees. You do realize they have a very large office in Cupertino as well as stores around the world. Right?

Yes, it is an undeniable fact that you stated $100 cost....which is way off.
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It would be way off if the product had a retail price of $200, however, it is far from that. Ad infinitum :rolleyes:

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iamthekiller said:
It's really sad to see misinformed people thinking it's unfair that something is sold so much higher than the materials it costs to make.

You have absolutely zero clue about research & development, workers to make the phones, marketing, legal fees, etc.
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What IS actually REALLY SAD, is that the Chinese people in the assembly plants are making likely what I stated, around $2 per hour.
 
onthecouchagain said:
...

So, is the resale value that big of a deal when the price of the device is so high to begin with? Not sure.
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I don't think most people make decisions based on purchase/resale. The iPhone is a considerable better made, more stylish phone, without a question (I own a Galaxy Nexus).

So people who care for the better design and quality get more pleasure out of using the phone during the time they own it, which is certainly worth something in addition to the resale value.
 
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Anonymouslives said:
It would be way off if the product had a retail price of $200, however, it is far from that. Ad infinitum :rolleyes:
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You keep trying to add additional factors to the argument that I've never addressed in any way. The retail price is a factor I've never discussed. $100 is a lot lower than $180. Simple fact. You were way off. Just accept it and move on.

Edit: Sorry, I did allude to the retail price....I said it was a high markup. I agreed with you on that. Yet you still insist on arguing. :rolleyes:
 
mogrefy said:
Looking at the apple store comparison page for the iPhone's, I think we're more likely going to see these prices listed on the Apple site for unlocked non-subsidized phones:

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_iphone/family/iphone/compare

16GB $649.00

32GB $749.00

64GB $849.00

Without the source for the site referenced by OP, I don't think his prices can be taken as anything but conjecture at best.
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You are absolutely right, that OFFICIAL APPLE page is stating the actual price, can't get much more official than that. Now we just have to see if they will offer unlocked iPhones on friday for preorder.
 
macUser2007 said:
I don't think most people make decisions based on purchase/resale. The iPhone is a considerable better made, more stylish phone, without a question (I own a Galaxy Nexus).

So people who care for the better design and quality get more pleasure out of using the phone during the time they own it, which is certainly worth something in addition to the resale value.
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I feel you.

But I beg to differ regarding "people don't make decisions based on resale." So many people have said resale value is important to them. I think it's a silly reason, myself, but it's definitely a factor for many as they constantly tout how wonderful it is that they can resell the iPhone for so much.
 
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