3 ms·

If the margin on bigger-screen phones is a multiple of the margin on small-screen phones, then that gives Apple a strong incentive to pretend that people want b

If the margin on bigger-screen phones is a multiple of the margin on small-screen phones, then that gives Apple a strong incentive to pretend that people want big-screen phones even when they don't. Also, being a company that relies so heavily on hype and branding, maintaining more than three or so offerings in a market segment is totally against their DNA. We're being dragged kicking and screaming into Apple's vision of it's future cash pile. One more reason why I preordered a Librem 5.

mgkimsal 8y ago
but... just offer the same price then (or bump the price slightly to protect the margins). margin alone doesn't really explain enough. Having an SE and an 7 for the same price would still give people choice, and possibly even bigger margins on the SE.
- vinceguidry 8y ago
  I thought I had answered that in my second paragraph. Apple just isn't the kind of company that can offer real choice. Have you ever gone to a restaurant that had like a hundred different menu items? The chances of any one being really really good is practically zero. Apple has a lot of product lines already. Phones, laptops, desktops, watches. Too much diversification of one product line effectively makes it two product lines, each of which needs its own department and management structure. If Apple wanted to be Samsung, sure, I guess they could do that. But they don't.
  - abraham_lincoln 8y ago
    Cheesecake Factory?
    - vinceguidry 8y ago
      Not an exception. They do everything somewhat well, not very well, and even that level of quality is subject to human vagaries like how well the cooks are trained or even how well they're feeling today. Whereas I can go to my local bar with like 3 main entrees and a rotating special and know that no matter what I order, it's going to be awesome. Seriously, I never knew how good sliders could be until I let them show me. The Cheesecake factory is Samsung, and my bar is Apple, at least back when Apple was still great at everything.

mgkimsal 8y ago

but... just offer the same price then (or bump the price slightly to protect the margins). margin alone doesn't really explain enough. Having an SE and an 7 for the same price would still give people choice, and possibly even bigger margins on the SE.

vinceguidry 8y ago
I thought I had answered that in my second paragraph. Apple just isn't the kind of company that can offer real choice. Have you ever gone to a restaurant that had like a hundred different menu items? The chances of any one being really really good is practically zero. Apple has a lot of product lines already. Phones, laptops, desktops, watches. Too much diversification of one product line effectively makes it two product lines, each of which needs its own department and management structure. If Apple wanted to be Samsung, sure, I guess they could do that. But they don't.
- abraham_lincoln 8y ago
  Cheesecake Factory?
  - vinceguidry 8y ago
    Not an exception. They do everything somewhat well, not very well, and even that level of quality is subject to human vagaries like how well the cooks are trained or even how well they're feeling today. Whereas I can go to my local bar with like 3 main entrees and a rotating special and know that no matter what I order, it's going to be awesome. Seriously, I never knew how good sliders could be until I let them show me. The Cheesecake factory is Samsung, and my bar is Apple, at least back when Apple was still great at everything.