premium is kinda debatable when we are talking about phones. They are heavily subsidized by the phone operators in most markets (sure you end up paying at leas

premium is kinda debatable when we are talking about phones. They are heavily subsidized by the phone operators in most markets (sure you end up paying at least as much to the operator, but most people only see the upfront cost). There are always multiple generations on sale at the same time, and lower cost iterations of the current gen as well. Not to mention refurbished phones. In the USA, iOS is roughly half of the smartphone landscape. Yeah, the less costly iPhone is more costly than the cheapest Android phone, but I don't think it can be said that it is premium hardware.