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When you say "not as low", the cheapest iPhone I can find looks like the SE, at 389 pounds. I can find multiple Android phones for 50 pounds -- that's nearly an

When you say "not as low", the cheapest iPhone I can find looks like the SE, at 389 pounds. I can find multiple Android phones for 50 pounds -- that's nearly an eigth of the price. I don't deny the SE is a better phone than a 50 pound phone, but it's also in an entirely different bracket -- I wouldn't give a 10 year old a nearly 400 pound iPhone, I'd give them a 50 pound Android, for example.

reayn 5y ago
While I get your argument, Apple probably just doesn't give a shit about competing in the ultra cheap phone market, they've found their "niche" (for lack of a better term) and will probably stay the way they are for the foreseeable future. Also, nowadays, most people (the vast majority of which don't think the same way as people on HN do) see a $400 phone as a compelling budget option[0], maybe even "low-end" if you'd go so far as to say that. 0. from personal experience with the iPhone SE2, it's a genuinely amazing phone for the price (sporting the same processor as the iphone 11 pro!) and suffers only in the battery department. Touch ID is also a great selling point for it.
- stelonix 5y ago
  Most people in the developed world, sure. Here on the rest of the globe, as per [0], Androids are considered the compelling budget for 99.9%* of people. * yes, it is an hyperbole [0] https://www.indiatimes.com/technology/news/how-much-iphone-13-costs-around-the-world-550225.html https://www.indiatimes.com/technology/news/how-much-iphone-1...
  - reayn 5y ago
    I speak from my own point of reference in the USA, which is also for the most part Apple's main audience. It's well known how dominant android devices are overseas.
acdha 5y ago
How many people are happily buying those really cheap phones, though? I've known a few, who bought a couple per year(!) because the hardware kept failing, but it seems like most people are buying in the iPhone SE range and the younger kids end up getting a hand-me-down when their parents upgrade (and since an iPhone is 6+ years of service, that's plenty).
- handrous 5y ago
  > How many people are happily buying those really cheap phones, though? I've known a few, who bought a couple per year(!) because the hardware kept failing This is my parents. Between the two of them I bet they average 3 new phones per year, because they keep buying cheap Android phones, but they just can't bring themselves to spend more, even though it'd actually be cheaper and then their phone wouldn't suck. Plus because they keep buying Android and all these cheap phones run on different major versions and with different vendor customizations, they're constantly having trouble with wildly different UI for even basic things like the phone "app".
- CJefferson 5y ago
  As Apple only sell about 25% of handsets, as discussed in the article, most people are buying Android handsets. I know lots of people who have bought a cheap Android handset and used it happily for a few years, myself among them. Most Apple owners I know keep the phones until they die, so don't have hand-me-downs. Obviously it depends greatly on the wealth of people as to how eager they are to upgrade their phone.
  - acdha 5y ago
    I know most people buy Android, but at least here in the U.S. that rarely seems like it’s much cheaper – comparable quality devices, and a fair number of people getting the phone their carrier subsidizes (usually the previous generation iPhone or Samsung flagship) so the cost is buried in their monthly charge.
pwinnski 5y ago
In my experience, kids end up with phones when their parents upgrade. So kids do have £400 phones... eventually, when they're no longer £400.
dagw 5y ago
Apple's answer to low end android phones is second hand iPhones. I bought my 10 year old a second hand original SE for the same price as a super low end Android and it's probably a better phone. It even runs the latest version of iOS, something that cannot be said for many of those cheap Android devices. As a matter of full disclosure, my personal phone is an Android phone.

reayn 5y ago

While I get your argument, Apple probably just doesn't give a shit about competing in the ultra cheap phone market, they've found their "niche" (for lack of a better term) and will probably stay the way they are for the foreseeable future. Also, nowadays, most people (the vast majority of which don't think the same way as people on HN do) see a $400 phone as a compelling budget option[0], maybe even "low-end" if you'd go so far as to say that. 0. from personal experience with the iPhone SE2, it's a genuinely amazing phone for the price (sporting the same processor as the iphone 11 pro!) and suffers only in the battery department. Touch ID is also a great selling point for it.

stelonix 5y ago
Most people in the developed world, sure. Here on the rest of the globe, as per [0], Androids are considered the compelling budget for 99.9%* of people. * yes, it is an hyperbole [0] https://www.indiatimes.com/technology/news/how-much-iphone-13-costs-around-the-world-550225.html https://www.indiatimes.com/technology/news/how-much-iphone-1...
- reayn 5y ago
  I speak from my own point of reference in the USA, which is also for the most part Apple's main audience. It's well known how dominant android devices are overseas.

acdha 5y ago

How many people are happily buying those really cheap phones, though? I've known a few, who bought a couple per year(!) because the hardware kept failing, but it seems like most people are buying in the iPhone SE range and the younger kids end up getting a hand-me-down when their parents upgrade (and since an iPhone is 6+ years of service, that's plenty).

handrous 5y ago
> How many people are happily buying those really cheap phones, though? I've known a few, who bought a couple per year(!) because the hardware kept failing This is my parents. Between the two of them I bet they average 3 new phones per year, because they keep buying cheap Android phones, but they just can't bring themselves to spend more, even though it'd actually be cheaper and then their phone wouldn't suck. Plus because they keep buying Android and all these cheap phones run on different major versions and with different vendor customizations, they're constantly having trouble with wildly different UI for even basic things like the phone "app".
CJefferson 5y ago
As Apple only sell about 25% of handsets, as discussed in the article, most people are buying Android handsets. I know lots of people who have bought a cheap Android handset and used it happily for a few years, myself among them. Most Apple owners I know keep the phones until they die, so don't have hand-me-downs. Obviously it depends greatly on the wealth of people as to how eager they are to upgrade their phone.
- acdha 5y ago
  I know most people buy Android, but at least here in the U.S. that rarely seems like it’s much cheaper – comparable quality devices, and a fair number of people getting the phone their carrier subsidizes (usually the previous generation iPhone or Samsung flagship) so the cost is buried in their monthly charge.

pwinnski 5y ago

In my experience, kids end up with phones when their parents upgrade. So kids do have £400 phones... eventually, when they're no longer £400.

dagw 5y ago

Apple's answer to low end android phones is second hand iPhones. I bought my 10 year old a second hand original SE for the same price as a super low end Android and it's probably a better phone. It even runs the latest version of iOS, something that cannot be said for many of those cheap Android devices. As a matter of full disclosure, my personal phone is an Android phone.