The monitor stand is like a $99 hamburger on the menu. For the people rich enough to never care about the cost of a restaurant meal it’s a purchase, and for everyone else it’s a cue that this brand is absolutely top end prestigious and expensive.
Im counting the days until I see one in a rap video or all over rich kid Instagram.
The message is that Apple shit is so top of the line that even our monitor stand is an uncompromising work of art.
It’s really not that complicated, it’s a textbook luxury branding and pricing strategy. Ever seen a Restoration Hardware catalog? They sell painted tree stumps for $1000.
The problem is that this 10x overpricing strategy doesn't apply to their entire lineup, but that's not made explicit. As a result, people might mistakenly generalise it to their other products such as iPhones, leading people to think that their phones are also 10x overpriced and are actually only worth $100, thus diminishing its value.
Price is one thing that most people are quite sensitive about.
The monitor stand has a nice appearance, but everyone understands that it's a mass-produced, functional product that can't justify its cost artistically or by virtue of materials and construction. The stand is also usually included with the monitor!
There's a clear message change. We've moved from "this is the cost of luxury" to "this is the cost we've greedily slapped onto a random part you need"
The difference between the two isn't vast- you have to pay attention to the nuance here.
The price for the phone likely has to be this low, though if this genuinely is a new strategy they might introduce a gold version or something like that. However getting the newest iPhone each year is already mostly a status symbol, while the monitor stand probably has a lifetime more comparable with a watch.
That sounds as if you are saying the iPhone is cheap.
And let's not forget some go higher than the iPhones like the $2000 Samsung Galaxy Fold.
Also, Apple always makes older gen phones available if you're price sensitive -- the iPhone 7 (and 8) is available starting at $300 on their site for example.
I guess the stand is for different audience with audiophile-level fanaticism towards Apple products or for organizations that don't care about the price, but definitely not for mass market.
Great except kids on instagram don't buy in the same bulk as video production companies.
If you burn your target market chasing rich kids on instagram thats a big marketing fail.
Prestigious? Not really. There's one word which sums up a product like this: overpriced. Expensive doesn't describe if its worth it.
And given I seen some Louis Rossman videos recently: recent Apple hardware is overpriced as well. Its bug ridden which I wouldn't expect with regards to such price tags. And I say that as an owner of 2 MBPs (4 in total).
That might make sense of the Mac Pro was a toy for the wealthy. But IIUC it's target audience is commercial production.
I would expect that market to eschew spending money for prestigious tools that their customers will rarely see.
Also on the desk of every big YouTube content producer, who can also benefit from the power of the Mac Pro for editing video. And with "YouTuber" being the most desirable career for a lot of kids out there, there's a good chance that kind of product placement could bolster sales for lower-priced Apple products for years to come.