V-r0cK said:
I know some of Apple's products are rediculously overpriced but some seems to be a bit more reasonable. I just thought the iPad was more along the line of a higher end netbook due to the price, but now i see it as equivalent to the low end netbooks. I actually believe some people dont know that Apple's products are overpriced. Apple's created themselves this image that their products are all high-end (due to appearance and price), so some people feel when they want to get the good stuff they buy Apple. One of my friend just bought a Mac laptop for this reason eventho i've told her Apple overprice, but maybe if i show her this chart she'll finally be more convinced. Generally, I think its very useful if consumers know how much of a profit or loss a product makes. |
When you say overpriced, what do you mean? Relative to the competition?
Apple is not just selling computer parts, they're giving you an overall package. You're essentially paying for their ideas, which is not unlike how Nintendo runs their business. How ridiculous would it be if we compared the budgets of Nintendo games, and the budgets of GTA and Call of Duty, and tell the Wii/DS majority that they're getting ripped off?
Now, I understand that in the case of these Apple products, it's not exactly the same, but the user experience does matter (where Apple puts a lot of focus into). People aren't just mindless sheep that buy things because they see an Apple logo on it, the reason they keep coming back is because Apple gives them what they want, at a price they can handle. The profits / loss do not come into play when making decisions, I wouldn't buy a PS3 at $600 even if it costed $2000 to make it (assuming I can't just sell it back for more). When I bought my Wii, it would have made no difference to me whether Nintendo is making $150 or $100 of profit per sale - there's no reason it should factor into my decision at all.
I'm sure it's possible that some people are ignorant of Apple's products being more expensive than anything else, but I doubt it. Everyone I know that buys Apple knows what they're getting into, the "Apple tax" is just worth it to them. Not that I'm speaking for all of their products, the iPad may be overpriced, I haven't been paying much attention to it myself.
In the end, the production costs by itself should not mean a damn thing to us paying customers. However, with a difference this large, it does increase the likelyhood that there's a viable substitute product out there (if not now, maybe someone will get on it later).
