Apple has been criticised for its pricing of the iPhone – expected to be $499 for the 4GB version and $599 for the 8GB version. However, Apple believes that the criticism is unfounded, referring back to the initial reception of the iPod back in 2001, which was at the time considered highly priced.
“It’s similar to what we went through when we introduced the iPod five years ago,” said Apple vice president of worldwide iPod marketing Greg Joswiak. “A lot of people compared the original iPod to CD players that cost $49, and asked ‘Why would somebody pay hundreds of dollars for a music player?’ Well, the reality is we are going to sell our hundred millionth iPod this year, and we have never had to price it at $49.”
The reason for the success of the iPod, according to Joswiak is the fact that it offered great value. “The ideal is that if you provide more value to a customer then you are going to get that customer, but it’s got to be the right value.” This is where phone manufacturers are going wrong, surmised Joswiak: “Unfortunately most phones haven’t had much to compete on today other than price.”
This is one in a series of five articles featuring comment from Apple about the iPhone. Read more here:
Author: Karen Haslam, Editor
Macworld editor since 2008, Karen has worked on both sides of the Apple divide, clocking up a number of years at Apple's PR agency prior to joining Macworld almost two decades ago.
Karen's career highlights include interviewing Apple's Steve Wozniak and discussing Steve Jobs’ legacy on the BBC. Her focus is Mac, but she lives and breathes Apple.