<story><title>With a $1k Price, Apple’s iPhone Crosses a Threshold</title><url>https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/10/technology/apple-iphone-price.html</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>wil421</author><text>Why are you bringing up healthcare on an iPhone discussion? Trying to figure out how it is relevant to the pricing of an iPhone in Sweden.</text></item><item><author>wutwutwutwut</author><text>Yep the base price for a Iphone 7 Plus in Sweden is 1100$. Not sure it makes sense comparing prices like this though. In Sweden the cost of an iphone does not compete with your ability to get access to health care or education for example.</text></item><item><author>ksec</author><text>If we take a look from a Global Perspective, US has the cheapest iPhone ( All prices excluding sales Tax ), and everywhere else had it more expensive. i.e The $1K Prices may be making a big waves in US, but elsewhere in the world they have been paying that much for an iPhone already.&lt;p&gt;And in terms of iPhones &amp;#x2F; Population &amp;#x2F; Apple Store, the US has it most. While in Japan 60% of the Smartphone are iPhone ( i.e Higher the US usage ) they have less then 10 Apple Stores. And it is the same everywhere else, which means any mark up in a certain countries has nothing to do with its Operation with in, and more to do with a Sales Tax, Global Pricing structure.&lt;p&gt;For Example, HongKong used to have the cheapest iPhone around the world, it was priced the same as US and because there are no Sales tax, it was 10-15% cheaper. Making HK the trading ground for all of SEA region or mainly China. ( Hence Tim Cook continue to blame HK market is more of a delusion rather then fact. ) Around iPhone 5 Apple started to put up additional $100 USD to ALL iPhone price in HK, as a way to combat the black market trading, and if everyone else where making money of it, why not keep the profits itself?&lt;p&gt;What has all these got to do with $1K iPhone. Well Apple already knew certain people are buying at those prices, again why not make a product that fit those segment? And to re balance the prices across the Globe?&lt;p&gt;And we have known for long there is no way to make the cutting edge devices every 12 months and ship 200M+ of it. They will need a product that only 10-20% of those 200M will buy, and have the best technology in it.&lt;p&gt;And mind you, shipping cutting edge technology to 20-40M user a year isn&amp;#x27;t any easier then the 200M+ iPhone.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>Jdam</author><text>As a European, I noticed that discussions held here about X in the US _always_ converge against their healthcare.&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Salary in the US is higher&amp;quot;
- but heir healthcare sucks&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Weather in California is nicer than in Oslo&amp;quot;
- But you don&amp;#x27;t have healtcare&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;New York is such a great city to live in&amp;quot;
- But you&amp;#x27;re left for dead</text></comment>
<story><title>With a $1k Price, Apple’s iPhone Crosses a Threshold</title><url>https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/10/technology/apple-iphone-price.html</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>wil421</author><text>Why are you bringing up healthcare on an iPhone discussion? Trying to figure out how it is relevant to the pricing of an iPhone in Sweden.</text></item><item><author>wutwutwutwut</author><text>Yep the base price for a Iphone 7 Plus in Sweden is 1100$. Not sure it makes sense comparing prices like this though. In Sweden the cost of an iphone does not compete with your ability to get access to health care or education for example.</text></item><item><author>ksec</author><text>If we take a look from a Global Perspective, US has the cheapest iPhone ( All prices excluding sales Tax ), and everywhere else had it more expensive. i.e The $1K Prices may be making a big waves in US, but elsewhere in the world they have been paying that much for an iPhone already.&lt;p&gt;And in terms of iPhones &amp;#x2F; Population &amp;#x2F; Apple Store, the US has it most. While in Japan 60% of the Smartphone are iPhone ( i.e Higher the US usage ) they have less then 10 Apple Stores. And it is the same everywhere else, which means any mark up in a certain countries has nothing to do with its Operation with in, and more to do with a Sales Tax, Global Pricing structure.&lt;p&gt;For Example, HongKong used to have the cheapest iPhone around the world, it was priced the same as US and because there are no Sales tax, it was 10-15% cheaper. Making HK the trading ground for all of SEA region or mainly China. ( Hence Tim Cook continue to blame HK market is more of a delusion rather then fact. ) Around iPhone 5 Apple started to put up additional $100 USD to ALL iPhone price in HK, as a way to combat the black market trading, and if everyone else where making money of it, why not keep the profits itself?&lt;p&gt;What has all these got to do with $1K iPhone. Well Apple already knew certain people are buying at those prices, again why not make a product that fit those segment? And to re balance the prices across the Globe?&lt;p&gt;And we have known for long there is no way to make the cutting edge devices every 12 months and ship 200M+ of it. They will need a product that only 10-20% of those 200M will buy, and have the best technology in it.&lt;p&gt;And mind you, shipping cutting edge technology to 20-40M user a year isn&amp;#x27;t any easier then the 200M+ iPhone.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>wwweston</author><text>A discussion about pricing is a discussion that includes purchasing power in its scope. Cost of living is relevant to that discussion.</text></comment>