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Comment by daneel_w | Hacker News Reader

I think the common take on the "Apple tax" is a false impression. A sort of knee-jerk reflex when seeing the price tag, without any further thought. Every brand has a premium product segment with premium price tags. The difference is that Apple doesn't have a budget segment with budget price tags.

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I think Apple have a pretty big range these days. There are older models and the se. There’s also a pretty vibrant second hand / refurbished market. Perhaps one issue is that devices can still be somewhat expensive secondhand but that’s because they are still good quality and expected to last (eg being supported and getting updates) for a long time – the alternative would surely be the kind of complaints about planned obsolescence or poor resale value that seem more fitting for the typical androids device (I’m not sure about premium. Maybe typical android devices get more updates these days).

> The difference is that Apple doesn't have a budget segment with budget price tags.

Right... hence the status signal the GP is referring to, when you own an affordable phone "you're poor"

They have the iPhone SE which they explicitly market as a budget option.

Which is still not a budget option. Not in hardware quality, not in customer/product support, not in price. It's a premium product in every way.

What is a budget option, then? The reality is that most people get these phones for free with trade ins to AT&T or Verizon.

The budget option is the phone I can get for 150€ without plan, and then combine it with a separate 5€/month plan from my carrier.

I think you have to seriously consider if there is any market for that. Any $150 Android phone is going to be worthless for modern use.

There's quite a few good Android Go and Xiaomi phones in that price segment.

As you might recall, when the first Moto G was released in that price segment, within of a year it became the most sold phone in several countries.

That's a massive market.

It's only the US, Scandinavia and Japan where upmarket Apple devices are so popular.

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