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Why iPhone and Android Phone Prices Will Get Even Higher (cnet.com)
Critics scoffed Apple when the company priced the iPhone X at $1,000. But the way the market has responded to it, there is a good chance that the upcoming flagship smartphones from Apple and those of its rivals -- Samsung, Google, and HTC -- will be pricier. From a column: The critics were wrong. Apple CEO Tim Cook said in July that the iPhone X had outsold every other Apple device in each week since it went on sale Nov. 3, 2017. With strong iPhone X sales, Apple proved that mainstream buyers are willing to pay almost as much, if not more, for their cell phones as they would for a powerful laptop. And with rumors of an even pricier 2018 iPhone X Plus-style phone coming down the pike this September, Apple's moves to usher in the era of the $1,000 phone may just be getting underway. Apple isn't alone in boosting mobile phone prices ever higher. Creeping prices on high-end handsets from Samsung, Huawei and even "value" darling OnePlus signal that price hikes are here to stay. In just two years, the cost of Samsung's Galaxy phone for US buyers has spiked 15.1 percent from the Galaxy S7 in 2016 to this year's Galaxy S9, while the Huawei P series has climbed 33 percent since 2016 -- and that doesn't even account for the existence of a "Pro" model. [...] The trend of increasingly costly handsets in the top tier underscores the cell phone's importance as an everything-device for communication, work, photography and entertainment. And as processing power, camera technology, battery life and internet data speeds improve generation after generation, the value people attach to a phone is sure to swell.
A thousand dollar phone better last six or seven years (even if you have to drop it off at a service center every couple years to have the battery replaced).
Meanwhile, you're right on that money that phones from the likes of OnePlus continue to pump out features and performance at a price tag fully half that of the major flagships.
Very few people are shelling out $1000 straight up for the phone. They all have $20-40 tacked on to their monthly plan payments to pay for the phone. This will also inflate the number of new phone purchases because, once their old phone is almost paid off in 2 years, there's a brand new phone that they can "buy" without paying any more than they already are. Take away payment plans and you won't just see the price of phones drop, you'll see the number of new phones purchased drop as well.
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
A thousand dollar phone better last six or seven years (even if you have to drop it off at a service center every couple years to have the battery replaced).
Meanwhile, you're right on that money that phones from the likes of OnePlus continue to pump out features and performance at a price tag fully half that of the major flagships.
The kind of person willing to spend $1000 for a top-tier phone is not the kind of person who would be willing to keep the same phone for 7 years. Especially since, two years after it is released there will be $250 phones that are more powerful.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
Exactly this.
I can't help but feel as if this news is missing the obvious explosion of growth in the value proposition being offered by the low-to-mid portion of the Android market. Whereas in years prior a phone that cost 1/4 that of a flagship phone might provide most people with an equivalent value (i.e. it's about 1/4 as capable as the flagship phone), these days you can get a phone that costs 1/4, yet provides most people with 90% of the value of the flagship. If you're an Android user, there's really no reason to go for the flagship phone unless you're set on getting that last 10%, but for most people, that's well past the point of diminishing returns.
I'm an iPhone user and am almost certainly going to upgrade from my 2013 iPhone to whatever new flagship they launch later this year, but even I wouldn't advocate my choice as a general practice. In years past, it used to be easy advice to tell people to get max(favorite_brand) (with favorite_brand being swapped around depending on if someone was in the Android or Apple ecosystem), since the lesser models all made significant compromises. These days, however, most people are best served by double-checking on what that last 10% actually gets them and whether it's worth the additional cost.
You talk about sub 300usd phones as ifthey are cheap. Few years ago that was expensive. Very expensive. The thing the 1000usd phone does is making 300usd look like a bargain.
It isn'r.
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
... of transitioning from a pure technology brand to a lifestyle and fashion brand with the advent of the iMac. They've been going further down that road ever since.
Today they are so far ahead that they can even drag their heels with us opinion leaders delivering meh hardware with last year's specs and still cap at 1 billion due to iPhones sold everywhere all the time.
That brand power of Apple these days is something it's would kill for.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
I guess we now live in a world where quite a few people are willing to pay top dollar for second rate quality. Let's face it, even the best Bluetooth link doesn't provide the best sound. And it doesn't matter how you massage it, the sensor in a cell phone isn't going to match even a relatively cheap camera.
I can't think of a single thing a microwave oven cooks better than a real oven, skillet, or grill.
So why does nearly every home have a microwave oven? It is fast, and "good enough".
As a photographer, I was taught that the BEST camera is the one you have with you. I have a DSLR, but I don't carry it with me everywhere. My phone camera works far better for that.
When I'm listening to music on an airplane or a volleyball tournament, I'm not looking for reference audio. I'm looking for something that sounds better than the noise I'm hearing without headphones on. Not having to get my headphone cable snagged on something is a very nice plus, and my headphones have 40 hours of use on a charge.
You're missing the point completely. It isn't about a single measure of quality.
Grammer Nazis - I mod you "troll" unless you actually add something on-topic. Yes, I know I have mispellings in my sig.
A thousand dollar phone better last six or seven years
This argument isn't much different than saying "A $100 meal better keep me full for 3 days".
The phone isn't expensive because of extra durability or a longer shelf life, just like a fancy meal isn't expensive because it keeps you full longer. They are expensive because they are at least subjectively better than other phones (or meals) you could purchase for less.
-- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
That's hilarious. The vast majority of smartphone users have no idea that the Slashdot crowd exists and couldn't care less. Apple has a $1T market cap specifically because they ignore any opinions coming from this site.