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When you walk into a phone store you're going to get upsold on the high-end phones, broken into small monthly payments. Also there are still many value phones
by Klinky 11y ago
When you walk into a phone store you're going to get upsold on the high-end phones, broken into small monthly payments.
Also there are still many value phones being sold that are pieces of crap. A poor person may be better off spending $20/mn on the latest iPhone that "just works" than getting a budget phone for $10/mn that crashes from not enough memory, has a terrible touchscreen and will be unusable in 1 year.
There are quality low-end smartphones, but you must research which they are, and the naming of them can be very similar to crappy phones. Going in and saying you want an iPhone is a more sure thing than guessing which variant of the value Galaxy line isn't crap, or which unknown brand name has the best features.
Often the sales people are just as clueless as the person buying, and they're motivated to sell whatever makes them a commission.
- bduerst 11y agoI doubt it's an upsell conspiracy, because the iPhone isn't the only high-end phone that can be upsold. More likely that the iPhone is viewed as an image luxury good. Same with ridiculously expensive flat screen TVs.
- Klinky 11y agoA lot of flagships do have the luxury vibe. That doesn't change the fact that most are bought with monthly installment plans, which makes the cost seem reasonable. Maybe poor people are getting them to not look poor or because their kid's peer group has them, but likely the user experience and usefulness of the phones is going to be better on a flagship. The technology hardware market is rife with products that seem to target the technically ill informed. Apple is known to "just work", that has been their schtick forever, even if it's not entirely true. It's similar to helping a grandparent buy a computer. Maybe those saying "you can do X on a cheaper smartphone", should go stand outside these stores and offer their consultancy services for free.