Why do people think the iPhone is "overpriced"?

[zorinlynx]

I don't think iPhones are too expensive. Similar phones from other makers are around the same price. And if you've ever actually USED a budget smartphone, you will QUICKLY realize that it is BY NO MEANS a replacement for an iPhone or a high end Android phones.

iPhones tend to remain good phones for 3-4 years with good software support. Cheaper phones are de-supported within a year at times. So you tend to get more for your money since you can keep the phone longer.

Not only that, but compare how much you use and depend on your various gadgets. I think your phone is up near the top. It's worth spending a bit more for a better experience.

 

[warrior2000]

The only difference is Apple has about 25X more cash on hand than BMW.

So you expect Apple to be a charity? Just because they have a boatload of money they need to give it away? And everything is relative. Sure they have $150 billion in cash (net of bonds). But they have over $150 billion in expenses each year. If they have a few down years that cash pile can shrink rapidly.

Also name me a SINGLE company that makes the best product in its category and does not charge a premium.

 

[warrior2000]

The K900 has BMW squarely in its sights.

LOL. Hope thats it a joke.

Regardless the K900 is a full sized sedan at $54k
The full sized BMW 7 series starts at $80k

Like I said the top tier brands charge a premium. So should Apple.

 

[warrior2000]

I don't think iPhones are too expensive. Similar phones from other makers are around the same price. And if you've ever actually USED a budget smartphone, you will QUICKLY realize that it is BY NO MEANS a replacement for an iPhone or a high end Android phones.

iPhones tend to remain good phones for 3-4 years with good software support. Cheaper phones are de-supported within a year at times. So you tend to get more for your money since you can keep the phone longer.

Not only that, but compare how much you use and depend on your various gadgets. I think your phone is up near the top. It's worth spending a bit more for a better experience.

Exactly. Most here who are grumbling about how expensive an iPhone is, probably never had to live with a cheap Android for an extended period of time. There is a big difference between sampling a phone at a store and living with it for months.

I bought a cheap Android and it was absolutely HORRIBLE. Constant drop calls, text messages arriving hours late, email not syching, apps not working, constant crashes. Worst of all no OS updates so some of my favorite apps no longer worked. I will gladly pay a little extra for the iPhone experience.

 

[spacemnspiff]

Do you really think Android manufacturers don't spend time on the OS, drivers etc as well? There's lots of work required to get each release working on every phone model and carrier. Lots of manufacturers also add their own software (whether good or not) too.

The effort that Apple has to put into its OS and ecosystem doesn't even compare to the free Android OS adopted to a new phone model. The tweaking that Android OEMs do is no way comparable to a full blown OS and the associated ecosystem. For example, Android OEMs don't have to provide and support infrastructure for app development (Xcode), that is done by Google. So it's free for the OEM. That cost saving should be reflected in the price of the device, but it doesn't, let's say when Samsung releases a new Galaxy at the price very close to an iPhone. It's actually Samsung, in this example, who is overcharging for the phone.

 

[warrior2000]

The effort that Apple has to put into its OS and ecosystem doesn't even compare to the free Android OS adopted to a new phone model. The tweaking that Android OEMs do is no way comparable to a full blown OS and the associated ecosystem. For example, Android OEMs don't have to provide and support infrastructure for app development (Xcode), that is done by Google. So it's free for the OEM. That cost saving should be reflected in the price of the device, but it doesn't, let's say when Samsung releases a new Galaxy at the price very close to an iPhone. It's actually Samsung, in this example, who is overcharging for the phone.

Exactly.

Plus Samsung also saves on R&D. They paid a fraction of what Apple did to implement TouchID, 64bit, and next force touch. Its so much easier to reverse engineer technology and cheaper.

By right Samsung flagship phones should be $200-$300 less than iPhones.

 

[sunking101]

Exactly. Most here who are grumbling about how expensive an iPhone is, probably never had to live with a cheap Android for an extended period of time. There is a big difference between sampling a phone at a store and living with it for months.

I bought a cheap Android and it was absolutely HORRIBLE. Constant drop calls, text messages arriving hours late, email not syching, apps not working, constant crashes. Worst of all no OS updates so some of my favorite apps no longer worked. I will gladly pay a little extra for the iPhone experience.

You're not comparing like for like. Pitting a cheap Android device against an iPhone is testing apples and oranges. Flagship Android phones are arguably better than an iPhone in lots of respects.

iPhone wins out for me in the end though, and the fact I haven't jumped ship since the 3GS shows that. They're still overpriced though! Take last year's iPhone 6. A 16GB base storage level, 1GB of RAM, a 720p display...and yet Apple charged top dollar for it. It was a very poor phone even compared to the year before's iPhone, let alone the competition's Android flagships. Spec-wise it was atrocious considering the retail price. This year they have made amends somewhat, but the 16GB base storage level and 720p screen remains.

 

[spacemnspiff]

They're still overpriced though! Take last year's iPhone 6. A 16GB base storage level, 1GB of RAM, a 720p display...and yet Apple charged top dollar for it. It was a very poor phone even compared to the year before's iPhone, let alone the competition's Android flagships. Spec-wise it was atrocious considering the retail price. This year they have made amends somewhat, but the 16GB base storage level and 720p screen remains.

Looks like we haven't made any progress after all this discussion. If you are going to use the word overpriced, you have to be able to show that it is in fact overpriced. Please don't compare just the hardware cost or specs, its meaningless. Put a comprehensive value to everything that iPhone comes with, then we have something tangible to discuss about.

All the subjective talk is meaningless, unless you like to hear yourself saying the same thing again and again about iPhone being overpriced.

Let me restate, please reread what was in my earlier post. Why do people think the iPhone is "overpriced"?

If you have a strong counter argument, then state it, let's then have a civil argument.

 

[doboy]

Flagship Samsung smartphones debut ony slightly cheaper, but then a month or two later the price drops and they become significantly cheaper. Apple charge the same price all year and let's face it, the tech in a top of the line Samsung or Sony phones is more expensive part for part. Then Google come along and release the Nexus 6 and 6P for much less, despite being premium phones. Let's face it, all Apple devices are expensive and just because we prefer iOS or OS X, that doesn't necessarily make them good value for money.

One thing you are forgetting is the resale value of the Apple devices. I used to own "flagship" android phones and those would lose more than 50% of their values within 1 year. Normally that would take about 2 years or so for Apple devices. Just last week I was able to sell my iPad 3, which was used daily for over 3.5 years, for $160 on CL.

 

[warrior2000]

You're not comparing like for like. Pitting a cheap Android device against an iPhone is testing apples and oranges. Flagship Android phones are arguably better than an iPhone in lots of respects.

iPhone wins out for me in the end though, and the fact I haven't jumped ship since the 3GS shows that. They're still overpriced though! Take last year's iPhone 6. A 16GB base storage level, 1GB of RAM, a 720p display...and yet Apple charged top dollar for it. It was a very poor phone even compared to the year before's iPhone, let alone the competition's Android flagships. Spec-wise it was atrocious considering the retail price. This year they have made amends somewhat, but the 16GB base storage level and 720p screen remains.

You don't get it do you.

Most people don't care about 720p vs 1080p or 2GB vs 1GB. Only tech nerds do. Most people only care about REAL WORLD results. You show me an Android phone made before the iPhone6 that was smoother and faster than the 6? There wasn't any.

Specs are for losers. If you want to play the spec sheet game, go ahead. But most people care about reality, not what a piece of papers says.

The iPhone 6s is $750 for 64GB.
The Samsung S6 was $750 for 64GB when it came out.
They are basically the same price at release.

With Samsung you get better specs.
With Apple you get a better experience.
Your choice.

 

[Dented]

One thing you are forgetting is the resale value of the Apple devices. I used to own "flagship" android phones and those would lose more than 50% of their values within 1 year. Normally that would take about 2 years or so for Apple devices. Just last week I was able to sell my iPad 3, which was used daily for over 3.5 years, for $160 on CL.

That's very true. I remember when I bought my first iPhone in 2008 (a 3G) it was on the same sort of contract I'd been on before, but unusually I had to pay £99 for the phone where my previous phones on similar contracts had always been free - that was the "expensive" or "overpriced" part.

The thing is, the proceeds from selling my 3G 18 months later more than paid for the upgrade price of my 3GS, and selling that 18 months later more than paid for my 4S, which even two years later easily paid for my 5, which just last month sold for £170 as I paid £99 for my 128gb 6S. All this time I've been on the same sort of contracts that I'd have paid for with any other smartphone, so really - not so pricey.

 

[mdlooker]

I think it's priced to according to what the market can bare. It's very expensive but there's also a point to consider the profit margin.

So long as they're able to sales 10s of millions is a very short period of time and continually to do this year in-year out then hey they must not be "that" expensive.

 

[sunking101]

One thing you are forgetting is the resale value of the Apple devices. I used to own "flagship" android phones and those would lose more than 50% of their values within 1 year. Normally that would take about 2 years or so for Apple devices. Just last week I was able to sell my iPad 3, which was used daily for over 3.5 years, for $160 on CL.

Absolutely, I agree on the resale value but one must bear in mind that they also fetch good money used because they're so expensive in the first place. Desirable too, obviously.

 

[sunking101]

Looks like we haven't made any progress after all this discussion. If you are going to use the word overpriced, you have to be able to show that it is in fact overpriced. Please don't compare just the hardware cost or specs, its meaningless. Put a comprehensive value to everything that iPhone comes with, then we have something tangible to discuss about.

All the subjective talk is meaningless, unless you like to hear yourself saying the same thing again and again about iPhone being overpriced.

Let me restate, please reread what was in my earlier post. Why do people think the iPhone is "overpriced"?

If you have a strong counter argument, then state it, let's then have a civil argument.

Well, Samsung et al have R&D costs. Google have R&D costs. Samsung and the rest offer a 12 month warranty. Yes it's convenient to pop into an Apple store and come away with a refurb but are you saying that a facility you may never use makes up a large portion of the iPhone retail price?

 

[doboy]

Absolutely, I agree on the resale value but one must bear in mind that they also fetch good money used because they're so expensive in the first place. Desirable too, obviously.

Yes they fetch good money used because they are expensive, but you get that "expensive" part back when you resell it cause I highly doubt 3.5-4 year old android devices have any value (in most cases)

 

[sunking101]

Yes they fetch good money used because they are expensive, but you get that "expensive" part back when you resell it cause I highly doubt 3.5-4 year old android devices have any value (in most cases)

If buying and selling each year is your thing then yes, the resale value is a factor to consider when coughing up in the first place. I sold my 6+ for good money but I usually pass my phones down to family, so resale value is generally not a consideration for me.

 

[warrior2000]

Absolutely, I agree on the resale value but one must bear in mind that they also fetch good money used because they're so expensive in the first place. Desirable too, obviously.

You should seriously just buy an Android phone.

Some people just need to learn the hard way

 

[warrior2000]

If buying and selling each year is your thing then yes, the resale value is a factor to consider when coughing up in the first place. I sold my 6+ for good money but I usually pass my phones down to family, so resale value is generally not a consideration for me.

So tell us what Android phone is a better value than the iPhone?

 

[sunking101]

You should seriously just buy an Android phone.

Some people just need to learn the hard way

Many people much prefer Android phones and wouldn't touch an iPhone with a bargepole. Personal preference isn't a valid argument here when both operating systems have their fans.

 

[sunking101]

So tell us what Android phone is a better value than the iPhone?

Look, I buy iPhones. I generally prefer iPhones. The price has never put me off, but I am of the opinion that they're overpriced.
If Apple up the base storage levels in line with their competitors then they won't be overpriced anymore. Expensive yes, but not overpriced. It's adding $100 to get a real world 2015 storage level that rockets the price up.

 

[b1scu1t]

I personally don't think as being as over priced at all. Look at it from the perspective of the overall package. iOS9 whether you like it or not along with the releases in between is supported on my ancient iPhone 4s on day 1 that it was available on the iPhone 6s(so to speak). That is 5 generations ago.

I definitely think Google is doing some good stuff with Android and I am glad that competition is around, but try to get Android M on your Galaxy S3. I don't think so. This is like the Applecare extended warranty that you pay for.

Further as much as the support is not free 3-4 years out, you do know for a fact that if you have a shattered screen or some minor problem for a $ you can get it fixed at the Apple Store(whether the expense makes sense vs spending for a new phone is another discussion). Unfortunately the same does not apply to the android phones.

That is the price premium I pay for.

 

[Dented]

Look, I buy iPhones. I generally prefer iPhones. The price has never put me off, but I am of the opinion that they're overpriced.
If Apple up the base storage levels in line with their competitors then they won't be overpriced anymore. Expensive yes, but not overpriced. It's adding $100 to get a real world 2015 storage level that rockets the price up.

I think you have to accept there's a difference between them being more expensive than you'd like them to be, and overpriced. If they were truly overpriced - that is, priced more than you thought they were worth - then you wouldn't be buying them, it's as simple as that. The reason you keep buying them over android phones is that despite the price difference, you believe (even if you don't like it) that the premium is worth paying.

 

[warrior2000]

Look, I buy iPhones. I generally prefer iPhones. The price has never put me off, but I am of the opinion that they're overpriced.
If Apple up the base storage levels in line with their competitors then they won't be overpriced anymore. Expensive yes, but not overpriced. It's adding $100 to get a real world 2015 storage level that rockets the price up.

so all this badgering is about a mere $100? Or about 13 cents a day over two years?

Really? You are not willing to pay 13 cents a day for a more stable OS, guaranteed OS updates, more privacy, less Malware, retail support, best build quality, better resale value, and assurance that the company is going out of business? Companies like Sony/HTC/LG could easily exit the smartphone business tomorrow.

 

[maxsix]

Isn't it the same cost as any other flagship phone (USD)?

Excellent topic!

In typical Apple fashion their extremely clever marketing has concealed (not hidden) the true premium price of the iPhone.

Knowing that the average person won't dig down deep in any site most don't know the full price of the phone.

Just three days ago I was in the mall waiting for the Apple Store to open. The lady in line was telling me how thrilled that her new iPhone was on sale , just $120 from Verison. The lady was about 50, dressed professionally and very well spoken. Turns out she's a Dentist. Yet she was so convinced her iPhone only cost $120 total that she bought one for her daughter.

Still waiting for the store to open I went through Verizon's page that _does list the real price of the phone. With tax and the insurance she bought the correct total price was $1021.00.

My new flagship Android Moto X Pure
Was only $502.00. Faster, smoother and very ergonomic it's a perfect example of how much pure profit Apple adds on to iPhones. But Apple ads plenty of extra profit on everything they sell.

You don't get to be the biggest company like Apple by offering value.

 

[warrior2000]

Look, I buy iPhones. I generally prefer iPhones. The price has never put me off, but I am of the opinion that they're overpriced.
If Apple up the base storage levels in line with their competitors then they won't be overpriced anymore. Expensive yes, but not overpriced. It's adding $100 to get a real world 2015 storage level that rockets the price up.

But look at how the competition is doing (the brands you want Apple to price match)

HTC - practically bankrupt
Sony - losing money every year in smartphones
LG - losing money
Xiaomi - losing money
Nexus - google sells at a loss
Samsung - profits down 75% from peak

So you seriously want Apple to price match those companies that are losing BILLIONS every year? really?