Particularly as Apple extends its tentacles overseas into new markets like China and India, many pundits have suggested that Cupertino needs to make low-cost iPhones to compete with lower-end Android devices.
So will it? According to Apple’s product marketing executive Greg Joswiak the answer is a resounding, emphatic “hell no!”
Speaking about pricing and market share with Walt Mossberg and Ina Fried at Re/code‘s Code/Mobile conference, Joswiak described some of the mistakes Apple made back in the dark days of the 1990s, when he first arrived at Apple, working his way up to PowerBook product manager.
“[S]ome of it was trying to do things like making cheap products that were chasing market share instead of chasing a better experience,” he told Mossberg and Friend. “You make that mistake once in your life, you’re not going to make it twice.”
Today, Joswiak says Apple’s ambition is different, and certainly more refined:
“Our goal is to make the best products with the best experience. And we’re trying to make sure that we are delivering on that, and by and large we do. Our customer satisfaction rate is higher than anybody’s. We have no shortage of either developers or customers … maybe it is naïve, but we [believe] that if we make a better product and a better experience, that there will always be a healthy market for that. And a healthy market doesn’t mean we have to be market-share leader.”
Certainly, with Apple going from strength-to-strength in developing markets, while lower-end manufacturers struggle, it’s difficult to think Apple’s made the wrong decision. Even if it does mean we have to shell out a bit more money for our iPhones.
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
11 responses to “Cheaper iPhones? Don’t bet on it, says Apple exec”
“Our goal is to make the best products with the best experience.” Tell me how the 2014 Mac mini fits into that? It has dual core CPU’s instead of the quad cores that the 2012 models had. It has RAM soldered in so it cannot be upgraded nor replaced if it fails. The CPU is soldered to the motherboard. And the extra hard drive slot that emerged when they discontinued the optical drive now has been closed up. Apple has crippled the mini. That is not remotely “the best product” nor is it “the best experience.”
Good thing then you are not required to purchase it if you don’t like it, eh?
I bought a 2010 mini, upgraded to 2011 mini, upgraded to 2012 mini. There was no 2013 mini. I had planned on upgrading to the 2014 mini. No way in hell now. Tests show they are 70-80% slower than the 2012 models. So your snarky comment doesn’t apply, does it?
It still applies. Think.
You appear to have more money than sense my friend. No need to throw your toys out of the pram because you don’t have the latest model. If the 2012 model is ‘better’, then keep it.
Wouldn’t a better experience be either buying more ram from Apple or not going through the trouble of upgrading it yourself. Wouldn’t you rather have a car that you don’t need to fil gas or do oil changes?
It doesn’t mean that apple doesn’t make mistakes. Occasionally they do in their products. However, the customer experience is still very good. And they are correct chasing the experience not the market share. If they go after market share they will end up competing on price. That is a losing proposition. Always is. Any business that just focuses on price cannot focus on the innovation of a good experience and the value.
The market, so far, approves of apples strategy.
Hell, no! How is Apple going to build decent smartphones for $75 to $100 to compete with Android One smartphones. Forget it. That stuff is going to be junk. I guess Google thinks BRIC nation consumers won’t know any better and any old crap will suit them.
It definitely seems like they crippled the MacMini. I have one of the older 2012 high-end i7 quad-cores and I’ll be able to use it for a long time. I have Mavericks on it and it seems like it’s always running at around 5% to 10% processor use and maxes out at around 25% watching youtube videos. I use it as my media center computer and it’s terrific for watching videos and running PLEX. It’s overkill and maybe Apple realized that. Whatever. I can likely pick up a used i7 MacMini somewhere if I need one badly enough in the future.
Cheaper quality as we’ve already seen with #bendgate.
Apple just doesn’t do things because they are stupid, they are obviously making some sort of move with the Mac Mini. Something is coming that will nullify the need for the mini… So they are slowly axing it.
My bet is that they want to position the new Apple TV as the the box you have connected to your tv, not a Mac mini like most of them are used for. Who knows, maybe there is some truth to the large ipad and OS X convergence which would certainly call into question the viability of a Mac mini. Too many products crossing over, time to axe and simply like Apple does so well.
It’s clear Apple has to have new ideas for the iPad in the future. Who knows but I know Apple simply wasn’t just having a bad day and screwed up the Mac mini without realizing it…