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Are phones too expensive?

Feech

By Feech
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SGT516 Member Level: 1x Advanced

SGT516

Posted
Posted

Not to say one is better than the other (I have both) and to avoid an OS debate there seems to be more information on Apples cost than others.

 

"IF" (according to Google searches) it cost Apple around 200.00 to make an iPhone 5, does the Samsung Galaxy S3 or Optimus G have anything that would justify a much bigger cost?

 

Doesn't Foxconn make handsets for various vendors?

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pyroscott Member Level: LTE Advanced

pyroscott

Posted
Posted

Not to say one is better than the other (I have both) and to avoid an OS debate there seems to be more information on Apples cost than others.

 

"IF" (according to Google searches) it cost Apple around 200.00 to make an iPhone 5, does the Samsung Galaxy S3 or Optimus G have anything that would justify a much bigger cost?

 

Doesn't Foxconn make handsets for various vendors?

 

They have less of an economy of scale than Apple, but they are gouging the consumer as well.

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nophix Member Level: iDEN *chirp*

nophix

Posted
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Not to say one is better than the other (I have both) and to avoid an OS debate there seems to be more information on Apples cost than others.

 

"IF" (according to Google searches) it cost Apple around 200.00 to make an iPhone 5, does the Samsung Galaxy S3 or Optimus G have anything that would justify a much bigger cost?

 

Doesn't Foxconn make handsets for various vendors?

 

Thank you, someone who got the point. It wasn't about Apple, it's just the easiest data to pull from.

 

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

 

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nophix Member Level: iDEN *chirp*

nophix

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Nexus 7 Specs

7" 1280x800 HD display (216 ppi)

Back-lit IPS display

Scratch-resistant Corning® glass

NVIDIA® Tegra® 3 quad-core processor

16 GB internal storage

$200

 

EVO LTE

720 x 1280 pixels 312 ppi

Dual core, 1500 MHz

16 GB

$549

 

I don't see that much of a hardware difference to justify a $350 dollar difference. Nobody said it was cheap to build a device at the same time at some point making a device should become cheaper over time.

 

Nexus 7 has no cellular chipset, much cheaper screen, and doesn't have to fit in your pocket.

 

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

 

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WiWavelength Member Level: LTE Advanced

WiWavelength

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Nexus 7 has no cellular chipset...

 

Incorrect. The cellular chipset option increases the price only $50.

 

https://play.google.com/store/devices/details?id=nexus_7_32gb_hspa_tmo

https://play.google.com/store/devices/details?id=nexus_7_32gb_hspa_att

 

AJ

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S4GRU Member Level: LTE Advanced

S4GRU

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Posted

 

Nexus 7 has no cellular chipset, much cheaper screen, and doesn't have to fit in your pocket.

 

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

The wireless network capability would only cost 30 dollars or less to add to the Nexus 7 from the manufacturer. That is not really an argument. The cheaper screen is too small extent, but for only another 30 or 40 dollars. And the larger device is more expensive in some ways too.

 

Robert via Samsung Note II via Tapatalk

 

 

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S4GRU Member Level: LTE Advanced

S4GRU

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Okay, we will even go with a AJ's $50 price point. It is still not even close. There is a crap load full of markup on these things. No doubt. And if subsidies were scrapped and people knew what they paid for devices, prices would come down. Period.

 

Robert via Samsung Note II via Tapatalk

 

 

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nophix Member Level: iDEN *chirp*

nophix

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Okay, we will even go with a AJ's $50 price point. It is still not even close. There is a crap load full of markup on these things. No doubt. And if subsidies were scrapped and people knew what they paid for devices, prices would come down. Period.

 

Robert via Samsung Note II via Tapatalk

 

That probably is true since it would fire off direct competition and force manufacturing to trim the fat.

 

Still, lots of people like to act like we should get these at cost. Why would they continue to make them on a break even scale?

 

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

 

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nophix Member Level: iDEN *chirp*

nophix

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One more thing to note.

 

A lot of the tablets are riding on the coattails of the r&d from the phones. There is significant cost in development that is built into the price structure of the phones. It all costs money someplace.

 

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

 

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S4GRU Member Level: LTE Advanced

S4GRU

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Posted
One more thing to note.

 

A lot of the tablets are riding on the coattails of the r&d from the phones. There is significant cost in development that is built into the price structure of the phones. It all costs money someplace.

 

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

They are not lining R&D with these margins. They are lining shareholders pockets. And I'm OK with a profit margin. But they need to compete for it. Right now, they are getting unfair hand over fist. And we are paying for it. Those subsidy costs are burdened by consumers.

 

Robert via Samsung Note II via Tapatalk

 

 

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S4GRU Member Level: LTE Advanced

S4GRU

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Well, if Google can fix their supply chain and get devices in front of average consumers, and we may see the competition after all

 

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

This is our best hope at the moment. And possibly Amazon too.

 

Robert via Samsung Note II via Tapatalk

 

 

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SGT516 Member Level: 1x Advanced

SGT516

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They have less of an economy of scale than Apple, but they are gouging the consumer as well.

 

Isn't the S3 outselling the iPhone? I'd have to think Samsung has some clout as well.

 

The S3 is 549.00 on Sprints website. 599.99 on Verizon and 599.99 on T-Mobile. Still a rather expensive device looking at full retail.

 

The disparity of a phones value gets even murkier here:

 

Samsung Victory is 399.99 MSRP on Sprint postpaid but 249.99 on its pay as you go offering.

 

Optimus Elite is 249.99 on Sprint Postpaid but yet 149.99 on its new pay as you go offering and even cheaper @ 129.99 on Virgin Mobile. Same phone, same carrier, 3 different prices.

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pyroscott Member Level: LTE Advanced

pyroscott

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Isn't the S3 outselling the iPhone? I'd have to think Samsung has some clout as well.

 

 

Now, yes, but for the past few years the iPhone has tromped everyone else. Apple's disruption of supply chains is well documented and their economies of scale push foxconn and other suppliers to razor thin margins on the components. Samsung will be able to command that kind of economy of scale on the GS4 but did not have the ability to place that kind of order previously.

 

The GS3 did outsell the iPhone 5 in Q3 2012 and I will be interested to see the numbers for Q4 as many think the iPhone will reemerge as the top seller. Heck, for the first time I have ever seen, the newest model of the iPhone has been discounted. Apple is watching their market dominance slip through their tightly clenched fingers.

 

Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk HD

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pyroscott Member Level: LTE Advanced

pyroscott

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I'd like to know where they are selling those puppies.. I've seen like one on the "street" since they launched. AT&T is selling the hell out of GS3's around here.
I saw one person at work with one. Then again I have seen more blackberries at work than iPhone 5s...

 

Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk HD

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WiWavelength Member Level: LTE Advanced

WiWavelength

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Apple is watching their market dominance slip through their tightly clenched fingers.

 

Is it just the fingers that Apple has tightly clenched?

 

AJ

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lynyrd65 Member Level: 4G WiMax

lynyrd65

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I have been thinking about this for years and even more recently but what do you guys think of the price of phones that are off contract? Are they too expensive compared to what goes into them.

 

I look at the price of the iPhone 4S then the price of the iPod Touch of similar hardware and I notice a major discrepancy in pricing. This is purely a profit grab.

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SGT516 Member Level: 1x Advanced

SGT516

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The carriers take it on the chin with the iPhone more than the subsidized customer does.

 

They don't always know (or care) that you might get more for your 200.00 by getting an Optimus G or S3.

 

I'd be willing to bet a Windows phone or even the new Blackberry would be 199.99 out the door with a 2 yr. commitment.

 

 

 

 

Sent using Tapatalk

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