Comment by isodev | Hacker News Reader

Comment by isodev | Hacker News Reader

I feel this post is blind to many of the secondary side effects of this "shortage". The rapid increase in prices and delivery times is having deleterious effects on all things tech - everything from phones to smart appliances and all sorts of gadgets has moved into unreachable price levels.

Just imagine, if the rumours are true and Apple's 'foldable' phone costs 2500€ or more - who is going to buys this? So much of Apple's ecosystem depends on enough users consuming services, buying apps and using their phones to facilitate digital interactions. I've been waiting for 2 months to get a new mac mini for our office lab, and the Studios have moved into "we can't really justify this expense" price range.

So the framing that AI is inevitable or projections that put the world into a year or more of this "scarcity", where people can no longer afford non-entry level gadgets, are just naive IMO.

> Just imagine, if the rumours are true and Apple's 'foldable' phone costs 2500€ or more - who is going to buys this?

Phones are a bad example in the US at least-not sure how it works in the EU.

I think most people in the US simply finance new phones through their provider who is already providing them the plan, so it just looks like an expensive phone plan to them for a few years. Apple could offer a deal where a $3000 phone is simply a $200/mo. add-on to your bill over 3 or 4 years.

I bet this causes more things to be tied to a cellular provider and offered the same way, like game consoles and maybe even TVs. Imagine signing on to your cellular provider for a 10 year contract to get a few new phones, a game console or two, and a couple TVs.

I for one am going to buy Apple's foldable at the expected price between $2000-$2500.

As long as they sell an iPhone 18 at a more accessible price point, I do not see the issue.

The issue is that this will be another vision pro. The issue is that every year, we take device and services price increase (which of course nobody can do anything about because Apple-Google is a cartel based in the US where consumer protection is not even in the dictionary but that's a different topic probably) and nobody keeps track of just how much these things cost for a "not an influencer / person who works in tech / friend of the president" household.

I think it is likely the foldable will sell well.

While it will be at a premium price point, people use their phones for hours every day, while the Vision Pro is a niche gadget.

With videos, photos, web browsing, and reading being much better on a foldable, I can see this have mass appeal.

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