"there are quite a few other phones on deck that will be similarly priced and yet juiced. It's becoming a common problem for Samsung and Apple... users have to consider more closely why they'd pay almost twice as much for flagship phones that get them a little, not a lot, more."
Yet they keep doing it. I agree that the premium tier no longer appears to be growing; in spite of that, in absolute terms, more people are excited about flagship phone launches than ever. With the launch of the latest iPhones, Apple sold nearly as many units in 3 days than they did in all of 2008. Think about it... You keep saying that the difference between a premium phone and a midtier phone is not as big as it was 5 years ago, but I'm sure you are aware that the sales numbers for premium phones in 2013 were roughly 20 times what they were in 2008, when, as you say, the iPhone advantage was the biggest.
Midtier phones have their place, but so do premium phones. I think Apple's high single digit share of the entire handset market is sustainable. Like with the Mac, there are always people willing to pay a price premium for a premium product. |
