Last Wednesday, Tim Cook, again disguised as Steve Jobs and with the Beatles as a soundtrack, featured the 3 new iPhones of the Cupertino company. Among them, the expected iPhone X that Cook himself defined as the "smartphone of the next decade." A terminal that in hardware does not present anything new (infinite screen, facial recognition or dual camera are present in most terminals of the high range) and although the software was always the strong, the question that the market is asking is whether it will be sufficiently deferential to justify the huge price difference with its competitors and even with other terminals of the company: the iPhone X costs 250 euros more than iPhone8 and 140 more than the iPhone8 plus, also presented on Wednesday. The answer seems quite simple: it does not matter. Apple has created a product that will not be bought for its hardware or software
As much as Cook disguises himself, his Apple has nothing to do with Jobs. The one that once was a company of disruptive innovation is today a company of marketing and commercial strategy. The most daring, disruptive and innovative of iPhone X is its price; not only because it is the most expensive terminal ever launched by the company (by far), but by an international pricing policy with differences that can exceed 33%. True, this policy is not new to Apple that seems to have prices for ready and for fools in which Spain is in the second group. Buying an iPhone X in Barcelona, Madrid or Bilbao will cost 30% more than doing it in Chicago, New York or Tokyo.
This data could indicate that the iPhone X positions itself as a smartphone in certain markets (USA or Japan for example) that must compete in price with its rivals but that in other markets, what it wants to be is a product of luxury out of price elasticity laws. Apple seems determined to show that in countries like China, India, Spain or Italy the price increase does not suppose a decrease in demand; the iPhone as a paradigm of the inelastic good that economists say. In other words, Apple is convinced that a very significant part of its customers will continue to buy their products regardless of the price of these.
How to explain that the price of iPhone X in India is 30% higher than in Japan or the US when purchasing power is vastly lower? Simple. In Japan or the USA, the iPhone X is a phone for those who value their performance. In India the iPhone X is a luxury item for an audience more concerned about the alleged exclusivity of the product than for its hardware or software and for them, the price is irrelevant as long as it is high enough that only a few can afford it.
As much as Cook insists, the iPhone X will not be the phone for the next decade for most. Of course, unfortunately, a huge minority will buy it only for that, because most can not have it. Zygmunt Bauman said that, in the neoliberal economy, to consume was to invest in one's own belonging to society. For some that 1.159 euros that costs iPhone X will be an entry price to a certain group. Pure consumerist fetishism :)
As much as Cook disguises himself, his Apple has nothing to do with Jobs. The one that once was a company of disruptive innovation is today a company of marketing and commercial strategy. The most daring, disruptive and innovative of iPhone X is its price; not only because it is the most expensive terminal ever launched by the company (by far), but by an international pricing policy with differences that can exceed 33%. True, this policy is not new to Apple that seems to have prices for ready and for fools in which Spain is in the second group. Buying an iPhone X in Barcelona, Madrid or Bilbao will cost 30% more than doing it in Chicago, New York or Tokyo.
This data could indicate that the iPhone X positions itself as a smartphone in certain markets (USA or Japan for example) that must compete in price with its rivals but that in other markets, what it wants to be is a product of luxury out of price elasticity laws. Apple seems determined to show that in countries like China, India, Spain or Italy the price increase does not suppose a decrease in demand; the iPhone as a paradigm of the inelastic good that economists say. In other words, Apple is convinced that a very significant part of its customers will continue to buy their products regardless of the price of these.
How to explain that the price of iPhone X in India is 30% higher than in Japan or the US when purchasing power is vastly lower? Simple. In Japan or the USA, the iPhone X is a phone for those who value their performance. In India the iPhone X is a luxury item for an audience more concerned about the alleged exclusivity of the product than for its hardware or software and for them, the price is irrelevant as long as it is high enough that only a few can afford it.
As much as Cook insists, the iPhone X will not be the phone for the next decade for most. Of course, unfortunately, a huge minority will buy it only for that, because most can not have it. Zygmunt Bauman said that, in the neoliberal economy, to consume was to invest in one's own belonging to society. For some that 1.159 euros that costs iPhone X will be an entry price to a certain group. Pure consumerist fetishism :)
