The moment when wireless EarPods cost €200, the consumers have gone to the state where the price isn’t anymore the issue, it’s about belonging and choosing. Apple has seen that the more expensive phones aren’t selling as much as their new phones were and thus the new more reasonably priced phone models are coming to the stores (iPhone SE).
I think that people are willing to spend the money on phones too, but they aren’t as visible as let’s say sneakers or the previously mentioned EarPods. The phones look very much alike on the outside, as the touchscreen has become the norm and the more visible differences are for example the amount of cameras in the back of the phone.
It seems to me that consumers want to spend more money on the items that will be seen by others. For example, a new car is seen by everyone, but a new internet connection or new television is not something you take with you to show to people. Sure, there are many other issues that go with making choices, but even with televisions the bigger screens don’t cost nearly as much as they did just a few months ago. At the same time, going out to a hip cafe with your brand new $2000Macbook to write poetry is still a relatable joke for many.
The bigger picture, of course, being the consumerism, that even the average citizen has the means to “be on board” of the internet and the material items like a laptop and a cellphone. It isn’t as big of a deal to own a brand new iPhone as it is to be able to spend hundreds of euros on a designer t-shirt – keeping in mind that the t-shirt will be recognized by the people and so making it more of a statement of wealth.
EarPods are very expensive, but they are seen and so Apple can raise the price double what they are charging now and consumers would still buy them, like Beats headphones were bought – to make a statement of wealth.
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