You ’ll often find out people plain that Apple ’s “ luxury convenience ” are too expensive for them . If they ’re talking about a $ 1,599 iPhone 16 Pro Max or a $ 2,299 iPad Pro , then this stop of vista is understandable . But strictly speaking , even the most expensive of Apple ’s Pro gadget are bounty products , not luxury . There ’s a bountiful difference .
Want to see a real opulence product ? How about an$8,900 Gucci cap . Or a$10,000 Dior udder . Or a$17,000 Apple Watch . Real lavishness is about exclusivity and as much about the issue of citizenry whodon’tbuy your product . But with more than 200 million iPhones sold per class , the luxury corner shred is merely no longer applicable to Apple .
Take the new $ 599iPhone 16e . It ’s a solid but spartanly fit smartphone with an older design and only one tv camera ( which does n’t proffer a real visual zoom , no matter how often Apple claims this ) . The 16e is not a luxury product . It ’s part of a growing group of Apple devices that are meant to invoke to a mass market attend for a well - search product at a adequate Leontyne Price . It ’s J. Crew , not Cartier .
The iPad Pro and Mac Pro are some of the few premium products Apple still makes.
Of all Apple ’s Cartesian product , only a handful — the iPad Pro , Mac Pro , iPhone 16 Pro Max — can truly be described as premium . In addition to Apple ’s brand image and expert aim , the iPhone Pro and iPad Pro tender exceptional operation and easiness of consumption . And the picture professional or app developer who spends bragging on a Mac Pro can be indisputable they will get gamy stability and first - course of study computer hardware in return . But it ’s heavy to find opulence in a merchandise that essentially offers the same experience as one costing thousand less .
The iPad Pro and Mac Pro are some of the few agio products Apple still makes .
Thiago Trevisan / Foundry
The iPad Pro and Mac Pro are some of the few premium products Apple still makes.
Is Apple still a premium manufacturer?
Apple launches more and more affordable products every year . Although these are first - class products , they are aim more at the mass market and are significantly cheaper than other Apple products .
Apple had to make a decision years ago . Should it stay on a double-dyed premium maker , a form of Porsche among consumer tech manufacturers , by offer only the good to people willing to pay for it ? This would have been risky because it would mean the natural selection of the company hangs on the success of a very small number of high - price products . ( As an illustration of these risk of exposure , error in product development are presently causing the aforementioned German sports car manufacturing business serious difficulty . ) So Apple chose a different track .
The iPhone 16e is another product aimed at a mass securities industry , not a luxury one .
The iPhone 16e is another product aimed at a mass market, not a luxury one.
Foundry
Less luxury, more shipments
Apple has plainly decided to become a multitude manufacturer offer a wide mountain chain of products cater to all income brackets . Premium devices such as the iPhone 16 Pro Max may deliver the biggest net perimeter , but less profitable gimmick such as the iPhone 16e ensure a orotund figure ofusers . This in turn leads to hard receipts through services such as iCloud+ , AppleCare+ , Apple Music , Apple Pay , and , last but not least , the App Store . Even growth regions such as India can not be conquered with premium devices alone .
A spacious client home bring another welfare : economies of scale . The big the turnover , the in high spirits the routine of shipments , the more advantages you gather in area such as ontogeny and selling . It makes little economical sense to develop your own iPhone CPUs and operating system for a few customer . But if you sell 230 million smartphones a year , you’re able to negotiate completely dissimilar condition with troupe like TSMC .
It ’s potential that this strategical shift will have event : Apple could regain that the premium portion of its brand fall in the come year as people choose time value over premium . But I would bet Apple will be just ok with that .
This article originally seem on our sister publicationMacweltand was translated and localized from German .
