Apple COO Jeff Williams ‘very aware of’ concerns about Apple product pricing

“Apple is a $700 billion company, but Jeff Williams still thinks of it as the nearly bankrupt underdog it was when he came on board 20 years ago,” Jessica Williams reports for The Times-News. “The chief operating officer and Elon University parent spoke about Apple’s humble beginnings and rise to success Friday, Feb. 22, in the Global Neighborhood’s Great Hall.”
“A graduate of both N.C. State and Duke universities, Williams got his start in the tech world working for IBM from 1985 to 1998. When the time came for a career change, the obvious choice was Dell, which, he said, was ‘on fire’ at the time. But former IBM coworker Tim Cook urged him to join Apple,” Williams reports. “Williams was charmed by the ‘contagious, palpable enthusiasm’ at Apple, so he listened to his gut and came on board as head of Worldwide Procurement.”
“‘The No. 1 thing I worry about is us, as a company,’ he said. ‘And the challenge is: We’ve grown so much,'” Williams reports. “During a question-and-answer session after Williams’ brief speech, one student asked whether Apple had any plans to reduce its prices, and cited a report claiming the iPhone X costs as little as $370 to make but retails for just under $1,000. ‘The stories that come out about the cost of our products [have been] the bane of my existence from the beginning of time, including our early days,’ Williams said. ‘Analysts don’t really understand the cost of what we do and how much care we put into making our products.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Bills of material stories are usually tripe, that’s a fact. They’re ostensibly for analysts, but the anti-Apple continent use them to make Apple look like they’re overcharging, never once calculating into the final price the cost of packaging, marketing, design, shipping, R&D, etc.
People complain about Apple prices because they covet Apple’s products. Apple doesn’t make junk. Apple makes premium products at premium pricing for premium customers.
Congrats, once again, Jeff on your journey late last century out of the dark side and into the light!