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I just don't get the prices. Samsung foldable: $2,000 Huawei Mate X: $2,600 Why are these devices so expensive?
by mariopt 8y ago
I just don't get the prices.
Samsung foldable: $2,000
Huawei Mate X: $2,600
Why are these devices so expensive?
- bsamuels 8y agostatus icon & recapture r&d in case they don't get popular. there's also a 5g modem which adds 2-300
- saghm 8y agoPrices that high will definitely hurt their chances of getting popular
- kryptiskt 8y agoMaybe they have a limited supply of screens and price them like this because they wouldn't be able to meet a high demand anyway.
- saghm 8y agoSure; I'm not trying to argue that they're doing something wrong here, just that a $2000 price "in case it doesn't get popular" is essentially conceding defeat on the "getting popular" front entirely.
- usrusr 8y agoThere are multiple kinds of popularity. Why wouldn't they go the desirability through exclusivity route?
- 0_gravitas 8y agoAnd then they go the way of the google glass, I'm still sad about those.
- rnl 8y agoNew technology comes at a price. The have spent billions on R&D and this is a way to get some of the investment monetized. It is likely to be a niche product to test the technology and the market. Most likely in a couple of years we will have foldable screen phones that go for less than $1000
- tw04 8y ago>The have spent billions on R&D and this is a way to get some of the investment monetized. That excuse works for Samsung. Huawei stole the tech. https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/30/tech/samsung-china-tech-theft/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/30/tech/samsung-china-tech-theft...
- madengr 8y agoWas the Samsung display manufactured in China? If so, what did they expect?
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- legohead 8y agoI don't really go for the R&D argument. Look at iPhones, they have only gotten more expensive. They should be cheap by now using your logic. Hell, they are removing things more than adding...
- thisacctforreal 8y agoApple invests a lot into security and performance R&D.
- artursapek 8y agoThe prices are insane, both my laptop and tower PC (which are beasts) cost less than that. I think it's because consumers generally pay for phones in monthly installments... we have become trained to accept these kinds of prices because "it's just $100 / month!"
- markdown 8y ago> I think it's because consumers generally pay for phones in monthly installments... we have become trained to accept these kinds of prices because "it's just $100 / month!" Is this true outside of the west though?
- vertex-four 8y agoIt’s not even true outside the USA, never mind “the west”.
- phakding 8y agoI don't get it. Huawei reportedly stole the technology from Samsung and still their phone is more expensive.
- Zhenya 8y agoMaybe their display yeilds are a lot lower.
- NeedMoreTea 8y agoMy guess is they expect it to appeal mainly in Asia where $2,500 flip phones are a thing. (Samsung W series - currently W2019)
- agumonkey 8y agoApple deluxe trend + market dynamics communication IMO
- bunnycorn 8y agoSo, the problem is Apple's... right...
- userbinator 8y agoIs it even rootable? If not, that's a huge amount for a device you don't actually own.
- drcode 8y agoMainly because a 1st gen phone like this will have lots of custom components inside that are probably machined in-house, which limits how many they can make. It then becomes rational to put a high price tag on it, to make sure they don't sell out in 5 minutes and to make the most revenue.
- Gaelan 8y agoI mean, if this thing replaces a high-end phone and a high-end tablet, the price is about right. Still, pricey.
- megaremote 8y agoWell, just go buy one of the cheap non-existant versions, right?
- Jach 8y agoApple long ago paved the way for selling decent hardware at a very high profit margin, even taking into account R&D. They're a trillion dollar company for it. Other companies of course want to replicate the success.
- bunnycorn 8y agoStop talking about Apple, because Apple is not in this. Also, there were other androids that costed more than the iPhone X. And no, Apple is not a trillion dollar company, Wall Street valuates Microsoft higher.
- Jach 8y agoApple is not in the foldable phones? Not yet. They are in the "sell decent hardware at high margins" business still, and have been long before the iPhone X. And competitors of course have longed to do the same, of course there have been other expensive Android phones. This all fits with my comment's point about a reason for high prices. You're technically correct, poor Apple is just an $815B company right now with MSFT at 851. Want to make any bets they won't exceed last October's $1T in the near future? Or do you have a point? https://ycharts.com/companies/AAPL/market_cap https://ycharts.com/companies/AAPL/market_cap
- bunnycorn 8y agoApple doesn't make and didn't announce any foldable phone, and when that happens, if that happens, you can criticize them all you want. Apple's hardware margins are less than that of Microsoft or Google. If you are so certain of Apple's stock, you can put your money on AAPL stock. And if Apple is worth $1T, it's still undervaluation, because one can easily look at their revenue and see they are massively underpriced and that's because Wall Street can't stop making FUD against them, among their competitors paying for negative infomercials about them.
- powerapple 8y agoprobably they don't want people to buy it yet.....
- rkangel 8y agoThe only valid price for something is what someone will pay for it. They're priced like that because Samsung and Huawei think that there is a market for it. Time will tell if they're right, but I can see the logic. High end smartphones are already at the $1,000 mark, and all they have to differentiate themselves from the $200 models is some nice design, and a slightly nicer screen processor and camera - they're fundamentally the same item. Manufacturers search hard for differentiation on a commoditised space, and this is the first major bit for years. This is a high end product, aimed at the '1%' who can afford to a stand out device. Do you remember when iPhones weren't ubiquitous, and if there was someone in the group who had one everyone would want a go? That's what the manufacturers are hoping for.
- rchaud 8y agoA price like that tells me they're not producing these in very large numbers at all, probably in the low five figures max. Makes sense, as this is new tech and they are trying to understand consumer demand and use cases for the product. Also, they may want to avoid costly recalls if it turns out that the V1 hinge isn't as sturdy in real world use as it was in their tests.