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unprepare

What a curious thought, that i seem to see repeated over and over.

What exactly is more expensive about the apple product here:

Apple iphone 6 - $649.92 full retail price

Samsung galaxy s6 edge - $779.76 full retail price

LG G4 - $599.76 full retail price (on sale)

HTC One M9 - $649.92 full retail price

This puts the iphone as the second least expensive flagship phone currently available, prices are all straight from tmobiles site.

If we expand the storage and bump to the top models:

Samsung galaxy s6 edge - $959.83 full retail price

Apple iPhone 6+ - $949.99 full retail price

Was your point only that everyone who buys a flagship smartphone is paying 'waaay too much' for their cellphone?

If your point was that Apple's smartphones are somehow the most expensive ones, then you are simply incorrect; this is the belief i was trying to counter with these numbers.

edit: formatting

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I paid $1 for my Galaxy S5 upgrade, with a two year contract extension. Essentially I got the phone for free because I planned on keeping my carrier for the next two years anyway. That cost was subsidized by my carrier, and probably indirectly by Samsung also. I've never paid sticker price for an Android phone, and I don't know anyone who has.

"One key to Apple’s profit dominance: higher prices. Apple’s iPhone last year sold for a global average of $624, compared with $185 for smartphones running Android, according to Strategy Analytics. "

You can't say the same when buying an iPhone. There's more complexity to this than sticker price. The numbers don't like, Apple pulls in 92% of the market's profits while selling less than 20% of the phones. Use logic and tell me what that means.

The carrier doesn't subsidize the price, its cost is amortized over the life of the contract. You are paying for the phone whether you know it or not.

As I said in my first comment,

>Was your point only that everyone who buys a flagship smartphone is paying 'waaay too much' for their cellphone?

Your statistic only shows that android serves all market segments, and does nothing to show that Apple phones are more expensive than the phones with which they compete. Yeah the Moto G is less expensive than the iPhone, if thats your point the discussion should stop there, because we are comparing a budget segment phone to a flagship segment phone.

>I paid $1 for my Galaxy S5 upgrade, with a two year contract extension. Essentially I got the phone for free because I planned on keeping my carrier for the next two years anyway. That cost was subsidized by my carrier, and probably indirectly by Samsung also. I've never paid sticker price for an Android phone, and I don't know anyone who has.

Ok, so lets do a price comparison that way

With a 2-year contract on verizon (couldnt find contract prices on tmobile):

LG G4 - $199.99

HTC One M9 - $199.99

Samsung Galaxy s6 - $199.99 (after $50 mail in rebate)

Samsung Galaxy s6 edge - $299.99 (after $50 mail in rebate)

iphone 6 - $199.99

iphone 6+ - $299.99

The galaxy s 5 is the same price as the 5S, both last years flagships

"20% of people paid waaaay too much for their cellphone"

This seems, to me, to be saying that people are overpaying given Apple's huge profit margins.

Wouldn't it make more sense to say that Samsung et al are paying waaaay too much for cost of goods sold?

If the prices are the same to the consumer, and Apple is able to extract greater profit, how is that a poor reflection on the consumer?

Because they are buying cheaply made, cookie-cutter phones packaged into shiny aluminum bodies made en masse at Foxconn, often with severe disregard for safety. There are endless issues with iPhones(screens, wifi, battery, cameras, etc), but in USA they at least will replace it withouth hassle. (And often "refurbish" it and sell it in "less important markes"). Possibly that's why outside few countries iPhones are nearly non-existent. They simply do not stand up to competition, given mid-range features, extreme price and obstructionism to replacing defective units). Apple and Beats by Dr. Dre fit very nicely.

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