From my experience in marketing, I’ve learned that being a “technology consumer leader” is something that a segment of the population will pay for (not just for tech, but “be the first to have X” is an incentive for many). They are willing to pay a premium for that, and to me that premium is for a luxury
I have a $120 phone and no contract. The performance difference between it and an S8 is unnoticeable in the things that I and my friend with an S8 do. Having “Samsung S8” on his phone along with specs that say his phone is better is the $700 luxury for him and a value worth the cost. Also, he can drop his phone in water, so maybe not a full $700 for the luxury. But I can replace my phone 6 times before spending as much as he did if I drop it in water or lose it.
The $1000 iphone is pretty much the same as the S8 in value/tech/luxury. The name is a luxury many people want that or to be a “technology leader”. You can’t convince me the different between the retina display and my 1920x1080 is noticeable in typical phone usage (ie. without running a demo to make it obvious). Maybe you really can see it and maybe some applications make use of it, but for me it’s meaningless other than the fact that you can say “I have a retina display”
I really want people to keep buying $800 or $1000 phones. I get a new one every 1-2 years for $100-$150 that is awesome because apple and samsung spent so much to develope the latest $1000 phone and the technology keeps improving for everyone even if I’m a couple years behind. And apps need to run well on 2-3 year old phones, so I hardly notice. When apps start needing today’s iphone or s8, I’ll have an equivalent for $100-$150.
Exactly. It is those “rich” people and “early adopters” (for whatever reason...greed, status, local availability of cat videos) who make it possible for everyone who would NEVER be able to afford a phone with 128 GB...to finally at some point GET a phone with 128 GB at or near the same relative price point they used to pay for a phone with 4 GB.
We should cheer those “fools” who want to be parted with their money! (WE are the eventual winners!)