IPHONE- IPHONE PRICES
Comical iPhone Prices
Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer said during an on - stage interview with USA Today's David Lieberman: " There's no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance. It's a $500 subsidized item. They may make a lot of money. Nevertheless, if you actually take a look at the 1. 3 billion phones that get sold, I'd prefer to have our software in 60 percent or 70 percent or 80 percent of them, than I would to have 2 percent or 3 percent, which is what Apple might get. " These are strong words from the CEO of Microsoft. He believes that comical iPhone prices won't do very much for their sales. However, with all this said, there are a few things to keep in mind.
The original iPhones started at $499 and $599. iPhone prices, however, won't stay the same for lengthy. Future models will be both cheaper and more powerful. Take a look at what happened with the iPod, which started a $399 in 2001. The average selling price for an iPod in Apple's Q2 2007 was about $160; a year ago, it was about $200. Also, there is a big difference between " phones " and " smartphones ." A good rule of thumb is this smartphones are pricey and regular phones are free ( with desires ) or very cheap. iPhone prices aren't supposed to be low. Apple isn't trying to sell 10 million phones over the end of 2008; they are trying to sell 10 million smartphones. This, in itself, composes iPhone prices less ridiculous. Furthermore, according to Wikipedia, Windows Mobile currently only has 6 percent market share of the smartphone marker. This is far behind Linux's 17 percent and way bottom Symbian's 72 percent. Again, that is just including smartphones, not mobile phones in general.
Ballmer - along with every other executive from companies this are competing in the smartphone market - must be sick of questions about the iPhone. It's hard to answer to questions about a competing product. iPhone prices are almost all that can be commented about.
Already Spent
Wikipedia has a chart showing each model of the iPod Apple has sold, with prices included. High - end iPods have sold for $399 and $499 until 2005, when prices finally started dropping. Even this day, though, an 80 GB iPod sells for $349. There are millions of people who have already spent $399 - 599 on an iPod within the last few years. Excluding storage capacity, the iPhone does everything these iPods do, and much more. iPhone prices, in this light, seem much less ridiculous. Wouldn't these same citizens think about spending $499 or more on an iPhone?