During Apple’s semi-annual meeting for financial analysts, Apple CEO Steve Jobs said that the company’s goal was to make the “best” products around, even if they weren’t necessarily the least expensive.
He said the company’s philosophy was similar to that of Sony in the consumer electronics space. Jobs said Apple wants to bring innovation to the industry and said that innovating has a price.
“Innovation costs a little more, but our customers have signaled to us that innovative products are the kind they want to buy,” he said. “Our goal isn’t to be the cheapest in the market, but the best. If this means that [our products] sometimes cost 10-15 percent more, then they will be.”
When asked by an analyst what he expected the “sweet spot” on Apple’s consumer side of the market to be by year’s end, Jobs said he didn’t know. Pricing isn’t something you can determine a year in advance, he added.
“And if you do, you can be certain you’ll tear it up several times,” Jobs said. “Pricing is something that you have to fine-tune several times based on the economy, supply and demand, and other things.”
When asked about the possibility of Apple retail stores, the CEO said that he couldn’t talk about “unannounced initiatives.”