The travesty of the iPhone X

On coque samsung a5 2017 personnalisée Tuesday, the news world coque samsung grand prime boulanger momentarily stopped, as it occasionally does, to pay homage to the latest offerings from Apple. coque huawei The tech behemoth’s new releases included the new iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, as well as an update to the Apple Watch and other new software.

But the big revelation was the new iPhone X, which will sell for a staggering $999.

There are other super expensive smartphones on the market, a few of which already run north of $900, so bumping right up to that four figure threshold is as much a psychological shock as anything. And coque samsung galaxy s5 mini minion you can argue that the iPhone X’s price tag makes sense. coque iphone This is how new technology gets introduced: at the high end of the market first, before trickling down to the masses.

But anyone concerned with the capitalist ideal of a well functioning market should be perturbed about a world where a smartphone sells for a cool grand.

In Apple’s defense, the iPhone X’s price likely reflects real input costs: It boasts an advanced screen, wireless coque samsung galaxy j3 personnalisable charging through magnetic induction, new facial recognition abilities coque samsung s5 licorne for unlocking the device, and a fancy camera. coque samsung As The Verge observed, this makes the iPhone X a “proving ground” of sorts for envelope pushing technologies.

Or, as Wired put it: “That bonkers price tag gives Apple access to technology too rare and too expensive to put into 100 million $650 handsets. And that means Cupertino can innovate again and once Apple does something, others follow. coque iphone Before long, all the stuff coming to a phone you can’t coque samsung j3 2017 transparente disney afford will come to a phone you can.”

This is a tried and true business model. Phillip Paea Michigan Wolverines Jersey New technological innovations start out in the high end luxury market. bijoux bague Then businesses work out the kinks, develop efficiencies, and figure out mass production. coque samsung coque samsung The price comes down, and the technology becomes a common consumer item. coque iphone We’ve seen this with Tesla, which started out making six figure electric cars and is now coque samsung j3 crane working on a $35,000 Model 3. coque huawei coque samsung trend lite personnalisée We’ve seen it with other Apple technology like the Retina display, which started out as an expensive addition to the MacBook Pro. In fact, the iPhone itself defines this “trickle down” mechanism: When it coque samsung j3 6 silicone was first introduced, it swept away the Nokia and BlackBerry phones everyone was still using and set the framework for smartphones from that day forward.

But how well is the trickle down mechanism really functioning

There are perfectly serviceable smartphones out there in samsung j3 2016 coque animaux the $100 to $300 range. They have cameras, internet access, app capabilities, and even 4G coverage in some instances. iphone 11 case The question is whether that is enough in the age of stagnating wages, jobless recoveries, and rocketing inequality. coque samsung There’s still a serious class gap in coque samsung s9 bois smartphone ownership: Ninety three percent of people who make over $75,000 annually own a smartphone, but only 64 percent coque samsung ace 4 amazon of those who make less than $30,000 do. coque huawei The divide is similar for college graduates versus Americans with only a high school diploma.

If owning a smartphone is becoming like owning a car a kind of basic necessity for navigating society this smartphone gap is worrisome, as is the iPhone’s new price tag. coque iphone For the trickle down mechanism to work, you still need a large population of workingand middle class consumers who can afford to buy the cheaper coque samsung galaxy s5 3d tech in mass quantities. Drayton Carlberg Oregon Jersey bracelet homme economy has actually been rising up the income ladder in recent coque samsung j3 2017 lot decades: coque samsung galaxy s6 orange In 1992, the top 20 percent of earners accounted for just over 53 percent of consumption, but by 2012, they accounted for 61 percent. The large base of consumers who snatch up technology once the price drops seems to be slowly eroding.

More striking is Apple’s own business model. Bryce Thompson Jersey coque samsung Even Apple’s cheaper iPhone offerings run around $400, which places coque samsung galaxy s5 strass them at the higher end of the smartphone market. Cameron McFarlane Stanford Cardinal Jersey The iPhone X will be the high end of the high end. Cam Newton Auburn Jersey That’s long been Apple’s strategy: It may not increase its profit margins with the iPhone X, but Apple’s profit margins are already pretty substantial precisely because it is the market’s luxury provider.

Yet instead of serving as a niche or coque samsung a3 2017 ebay boutique producer in the smartphone market, which is what you’d expect from a luxury focused brand, Apple dominates coque samsung s8 paillette the field. Mike Harley Jersey Despite a steep starting price of $649, the iPhone 7 was the best selling smartphone in the first quarter of 2017. Apple also sets the price for the rest of coque samsung galaxy s6 swag the market: As other smartphone producers explained to Wired, they actually breathed a sigh of relief at the iPhone X’s new price because it will allow them to sell their own smartphones for comparable mark ups. “Today, nearly everyone buys either dirt cheap or frightfully expensive devices,” Wired explained. “There’s virtually no money coque samsung galaxy a3 attrape reve to be made on the low coque samsung s8 magnetique end, so the high end becomes ever more competitive.”

This is not how it’s supposed to work. Cameron Scarlett Jersey coque samsung In a functional market with real competitive pressure, other smartphone makers would jump at the chance to undercut Apple with similar technology for lower prices, forcing Apple to bring its prices down. Apple would be coque samsung j3 2016 neymar coerced into becoming a mass coque samsung galaxy a5 2016 or consumer focused business if it wanted to hold onto its dominant market position, and everyone would be left scrambling to compete over the diminishing returns of selling dirt cheap devices, whether they liked it or not.

Focusing on the conspicuous consumers at the luxury end ought to force Apple to give up market share. That the company is chugging along largely undisturbed suggests the larger economy has been broken, whether by rampaging inequality, permanent semi slumps, or overwrought monopoly power by players just like Apple. The competitive pressure that ostensibly makes capitalism work for the good of all is dissipating.

Of course, none of that is Apple’s fault. Ronnie Clark Jersey It’s just a profit seeking company reacting as any profit seeking company would to the economic landscape it finds itself in. coque samsung But the landscape could change; the international market, especially India and China, could provide the low end mass buyers America no longer can. is stable.

Still, China has its own inequality problem. And as the iPhone 7′s sales show, the day the international market forces coque samsung galaxie s3 Apple to rethink its business model is still a ways off and it may never come at all.

For the moment, Apple appears quite comfortable in its throne, ruling over its smartphone kingdom.