Are higher-priced products bad news for Apple’s future?

“Apple has launched a bevy of new products this fall, from iPhones to iPads to laptops and more,” Pete Pachal writes for Mashable. “They’re all more expensive than they used to be.”
MacDailyNews Take: They all do more, and faster, than they used to.
“That’s disappointing for many consumers, who will be either squeezed to pay more for the devices they want or simply priced out altogether,” Pachal writes. “But Apple’s deepening love for the high end might not be good for the future of the company, either.”
“The trend didn’t just begin this fall. Apple has always leaned toward the high end wherever it aims to compete, and in recent years it’s appeared to consciously double down on that strategy,” Pachal writes. “Apple’s brand counts for a lot: It can afford to charge a huge premium and simply watch the profits ring up. Profits don’t equal influence, however. And if you look at the iPhone and iPad — the company’s most influential products so far — Apple was more aggressive on price than you might remember. They were premium, but they were still accessible compared to what they were competing against. That a lot less true today, and it may mean Apple has less of a voice in what happens tomorrow.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple has an installed base of 1.3 billion devices and analyses that equate customers are facile. Customers are different and have different means. Some customers are more valuable than others. Apple has amassed these premium customers. This is very clear when looking at App Store revenue vs. Google Play revenue. It’s also the reason why Google pays Apple billions of dollars each year to be the default search on Apple devices.
“All men are created equal.”
Well, not when it comes to users of smartphones and tablets…
The bottom line: Those who settle for Android devices are not equal to iOS users. The fact is that iOS users are worth significantly more than Android settlers to developers, advertisers, third-party accessory makers (speakers, cases, chargers, cables, etc.), vehicle makers, musicians, TV show producers, movie producers, book authors, carriers, retailers, podcasters… The list goes on and on.
The quality of the customer matters. A lot.
Facile “analyses” that look only at market (unit) share, equating one Android settler to one iOS user, make a fatal error by incorrectly equating users of each platform one-to-one.
When it comes to mobile operating systems, all users are simply not equal. – SteveJack, MacDailyNews, November 15, 2014
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Apple targets high-value consumers. Apple separates the wheat from the chaff with their value proposition. Android phone assemblers generally do not target high-value consumers (they target price-conscious customers with endless BOGOF promos) and when they do go after the high-end, they simply do not compete well against iPhone.
Apple customers are the wheat. [Those who settle for Android] for whatever reason, failed to make the cut; they are the chaff. — MacDailyNews, November 13, 2013
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Apple sells premium products at premium prices to premium customers. – SteveJack, MacDailyNews, October 23, 2012
SEE ALSO:
Apple’s focus is not iPhone market share, it’s on dominating the higher end of its markets – November 3, 2018
Analyst estimates Google will pay Apple $9 billion this year to remain default search – September 28, 2018
Bernstein: Google to pay Apple $3 billion this year to remain the default search engine on iPhones and iPads – August 14, 2017
Apple takes U.S. market share from Android, dominates with 8 iPhones out of 10 best-selling smartphones – July 26, 2018
Apple’s App Store is destroying Google Play in services and subscriptions – April 18, 2018
Apple’s iPhone X made 5 times the profit of 600 Android OEMs combined – April 18, 2018
Apple’s iPhone captured 86% of global handset profits in Q417; iPhone X alone took 35% of global handset profits – April 17, 2018
Apple App Store users spent nearly double that of Google Play users in Q417 – January 26, 2018
Apple’s iOS continues to attract content apps first, despite smaller unit share – October 30, 2017
Bernstein: Google to pay Apple $3 billion this year to remain the default search engine on iPhones and iPads – August 14, 2017
Higher income U.S. states use Apple iPhones; lower income states use Samsung Galaxy phones – September 27, 2016
iOS users are worth 10X more than those who settle for Android – July 27, 2016
Apple’s App Store revenue nearly double that of Google’s Android – April 20, 2016
Poor man’s iPhone: Android on the decline – February 26, 2015
Study: iPhone users are smarter and richer than those who settle for Android phones – January 22, 2015
Why Android users can’t have the nicest things – January 5, 2015
iPhone users earn significantly more than those who settle for Android phones – October 8, 2014
Yet more proof that Android is for poor people – June 27, 2014
More proof that Android is for poor people – May 13, 2014
Android users poorer, shorter, unhealthier, less educated, far less charitable than Apple iPhone users – November 13, 2013
IDC data shows two thirds of Android’s 81% smartphone share are cheap junk phones – November 13, 2013
CIRP: Apple iPhone users are younger, richer, and better educated than those who settle for Samsung knockoff phones – August 19, 2013