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Is Apple going downhill with mobile devices?

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Ibn_Hasaf

Renowned Member
26/6/11
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Mickey Padge said:
Actually the phone is even more ludicrously expensive in China, one of the reasons Apple shares dived on release day was due to Apples crazy pricing, with the 5c costing over $700.....

In China you can get top end quad core android phones for $300-400, just like the 32GB xiaomi Mi2S I own ;)
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Right, as most know, I have lived in China for several years. Consumer electronics, for similar products, are generally more expensive in China. Apple products are even more noticeable. About the lowest markup in China, over US prices is the current Macbook air. I was looking at one this week. For a product that sells for 1K in the US, in China it is over 1.2K.

When Chinese go to the US they, typically, go shopping. Not just because shopping seems to be "their thing" (an strangely consumerist culture) but because goods are so much less expensive in the US, even goods made in China ate significantly less expensive in the US. . . for similar quality (and name brand watches are significantly cheaper in the US, by at least 40%).

Back to Apple; I was very interested in the 5c following the death of my iPhone 3 and have been considering a new iPhone for several months. However, to tide myself over I purchased a Runbo S09 Industrial phone for about $375 USD. Its main feature is durrability (I should have done th eextra and gotten the "worksite radio" model with the radio built in so it would also work on the ham 440 band).
batl_s09_ip68_quad_core_android_4_1.jpg


I was really waiting for the 5c. My expectation was that Apple was going to try to compete with Android here in China; and a large part of the failure to compete with Android has been the price. I, and many others were expecting to see a price in the $300 range; however, in China the price is closer to $700 USD. For that price I will keep my current phone and watch the used market when I am in the US.

I see two problems for Apple. The first is the price, the investors are very concerned with keeping the margins high; however, that really only worked for Apple when they were creating (ok, marketing) new product categories, smartphones and tablets are a commodity now. The second is the failure to provide a roadmap. Large purchasers are hesitant to purchase when there is no clear indication of where the product line is going.

Apple doesn't need a return to the Pepsi Guy days. However, Apple does need to start thinking of itself as a mature company with mature product lines and be less dependent on showmanship and show more understanding of its products positioning within a category. Apple is still a premium product and its pricing can reflect that; however, they are a mass market seller and they are loosing the mass market.
 
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wepiii

Active Member
18/12/12
459
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0
Turbo350z said:
How do you guys go from iPhone 5 to 5s? Pay full retail?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2
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I normally sell my old one for around the same as I can get the new one. I'm on ATT, so the early upgrade price is $449 each time a new iphone comes out. I think I can sell the iPhone 5 for around $400, so it's only $50 out of pocket. I have done this for every iPhone version, because why not at $50... But if I had to pay full retail I would just wait until I had an upgrade. I'm not sure why you get the $200 discount from ATT every year. It doesn't really make sense for them since they subsidize the phone... And it actually used to be a lot better... Until the 5, they gave you the upgrade price of $199 every year so you could normally sell your year old one and get the new one while pocketing a couple hundred in cash
 
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wepiii

Active Member
18/12/12
459
0
0
Hasaf said:
Apple doesn't need a return to the Pepsi Guy days. However, Apple does need to start thinking of itself as a mature company with mature product lines and be less dependent on showmanship and show more understanding of its products positioning within a category. Apple is still a premium product and its pricing can reflect that; however, they are a mass market seller and they are loosing the mass market.
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Completely agree, very valid point.
 
Mickey Padge

Mickey Padge

Renowned Member
7/9/06
894
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wepiii said:
I'm pretty sure I said I have gone back and forth between both. What I "learned" was what I posted... But that does not mean that I am saying iPhone is better for everyone. I don't like a huge phone, I don't like my phone crashing because I didn't flash the rom right, I count on my phone for my business, so in that regard the iPhone is best for ME. Android is going to be better for people with other needs/wants out of their phone. Why you feel so strongly about forcing other people into what you think is best? There is a difference between posting your opinion and saying that everyone else that doesn't agree with you is an idiot
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These are my observations about Apple users in general, they seem to be bang on the money most times ;)

You don't like a "huge" phone, so you're glad Apple didn't make one? Why, what about the people that did want a larger screen Apple phone? And you're telling me not to "force other people into what you think is best" Seems like you are doing that yourself.....

If you can't flash a custom android ROM without bricking your phone, it's probably a good thing you use iphones ;)
 
TESLA760

TESLA760

Time is Money $$
Certified
7/2/11
24,694
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Socal Wine Country
I don't think you're getting. It's a phone. I need it to make calls, and do email. I don't need it to shave my sack, or make dinner for me. I'm 40 years old. I'm not jail breaking it so some *** Bieber song plays when someone calls me. That's why Apple products tend to appeal to the older crowd.
 
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MauiDave

Renowned Member
27/6/13
644
4
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BMW760 said:
I don't think you're getting. It's a phone. I need it to make calls, and do email. I don't need it to shave my sack, or make dinner for me. I'm 40 years old. I'm not jail breaking it so some *** Bieber song plays when someone calls me. That's why Apple products tend to appeal to the older crowd.
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+1 if I want bieber I'm well off enough to pay 1$ to download don't need a jailbreak


Sent from my iPhone because I'm such a addict I have to keep on here even when I'm not home.
 
R

rbj69

I'm Pretty Popular
14/3/06
2,358
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BMW760 said:
I don't think you're getting. It's a phone. I need it to make calls, and do email. I don't need it to shave my sack, or make dinner for me. I'm 40 years old. I'm not jail breaking it so some *** Bieber song plays when someone calls me. That's why Apple products tend to appeal to the older crowd.
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Hey I love bieber Lmao

Sent from s4 Active, it's waterproof like our watches :)
 
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Turbo350z

I'm Pretty Popular
9/1/13
2,242
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wepiii said:
I normally sell my old one for around the same as I can get the new one. I'm on ATT, so the early upgrade price is $449 each time a new iphone comes out. I think I can sell the iPhone 5 for around $400, so it's only $50 out of pocket. I have done this for every iPhone version, because why not at $50... But if I had to pay full retail I would just wait until I had an upgrade. I'm not sure why you get the $200 discount from ATT every year. It doesn't really make sense for them since they subsidize the phone... And it actually used to be a lot better... Until the 5, they gave you the upgrade price of $199 every year so you could normally sell your year old one and get the new one while pocketing a couple hundred in cash
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The old days with t mobile and AT&T were great! They would let me get a new phone whenever I wanted, all I had to do was sign for 2 more years. Even if your contract was only 6 months in you could get the upgrade price. Now days with verizon they don't offer you anything until the full 2 years is up.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2
 
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wepiii

Active Member
18/12/12
459
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0
Mickey Padge said:
These are my observations about Apple users in general, they seem to be bang on the money most times ;)

You don't like a "huge" phone, so you're glad Apple didn't make one? Why, what about the people that did want a larger screen Apple phone? And you're telling me not to "force other people into what you think is best" Seems like you are doing that yourself.....

If you can't flash a custom android ROM without bricking your phone, it's probably a good thing you use iphones ;)
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I could care less if they made a larger phone and a smaller phone, what I was saying is that I was glad they didn't make just a larger phone. Then I would no longer be getting what, for me, has been a perfect phone.

And I could flash a rom perfectly fine if I wanted to. I could jailbreak if I wanted to. But I value that I don't HAVE to on ios. You don't have to jailbreak an iPhone to remove bloat ware out of the box. I've tried android phones, and out of the box my experience is that they have all had some kind of carrier crap programs running all the time on them that I can't delete. I have better things to do with my time than root my phone or jailbreak my phone. If messing around with your phone, loading different themes and icons and programs and all of that is enjoyable to you, then android is a great choice. Not all people are that way though. I enjoy working on my car... But I certainly don't view people differently or chastise them if they just look at a car as a mode of transportation... Different strokes for different folks as they say. But hey, If that makes me a typical apple user who "doesn't know any better" than I guess I am.
 
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nlnlnlnene

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I own aapl stocks.
I also have a MacBook Pro retina, Mac Pro, iPhone 5, 4S and have bought iPad, MacBook Air and will buy another round of PCs and iPhones soon.

I can't say I am objective about apple but I think much has been mAde about the demise of apple for no reason.
I will concede that the pace of excitement and innovation has ceased with the passing of Steve jobs but I had the displeasure of owning Samsung galaxy note 2 and I hated every minute of it.

I believe apple still makes high quality products second to none in the industry.
 
S

smokiedabong

Respected Member
22/8/12
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Let me clear things up for you guys, here's how it is: Apple sucks and all it's fans are little bitches, ANDROID PWNES ! :popcorn:
 
R

rbj69

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14/3/06
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Note 2 was awesome, you just never had that kind of tech in your hands is all, size matters Lmao

Sent from s4 Active, it's waterproof like our watches :)
 
R

ratpatrolteam01

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10/12/10
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why do you guys even care if one is better than the other. Can't you just accept the fact that it's a phone and get what you like and move on?

I'm sure making the platform you have more popular isn't going to help much. You can still text or call your friend if he/she gets a different platform phone you know... and the popular applications are most of the time multiplatform. So whether you have platform X or Y, you can still do things / socialize together! :)

if you really hate something that much and you chose to spend time to express about it... i guess more power to you if you think you accomplished something.

If you're touting the fact that you're a shareholder of company X, you have products from them and you express your opinion about this company to produce a positive image around it... well you're in a replica luxury watch forum so I'm going to guess that the weight of your words, and the amount of shares you have in that company is anything but significant.
 
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