Apple CEO Tim Cook implied Thursday that if people can afford daily coffee at a high-end coffee shop, then they can surely afford the $1,000 iPhone X.
The tech leader, though, wasn’t addressing the direct purchase of the smartphone, which was released Friday, but was comparing the figures to available monthly installment plans.
“So if you think about that, that’s a few coffees a week,” Cook said, according to Barron’s. “It’s less than a coffee a day at one of these nice coffee places.”
The comments, which were made as the company released its earnings report, may not be far-fetched depending on the price points and what is considered expensive.
The monthly installment plan through Apple’s upgrade program for a fully-equipped iPhone X reportedly costs around $56. Regardless of the length of the month, that would amount to equal or less than $2 a day, which is presumably not enough for almost any coffee product at a deluxe establishment, except maybe a single shot of espresso (one ounce) — hardly sufficient for much of the caffeine and coffee-addicted American populace. While espresso is highly concentrated, men and women in the U.S. drink an average of 1.6 cups (12.8 ounces) of coffee a day. And when strictly accounting for coffee drinkers, the average consumption in the U.S. is 3.2 cups (25.6 ounces) daily.
While Cook may be for the most part correct in his assertion, a large portion of the U.S. population doesn’t patronize the upscale cafés, where skilled baristas are able to harness their artistic creativity and etch an impressive imprint on the coffee’s foam. Many are quite satisfied with their store-bought ground coffee, whether its Folgers, Maxwell House, or generic coffee crystals.
This isn’t the first time Cook’s made such claims in defense of his price point, the highest out of any iPhone ever.
He said in September that the nearly $1,000 iPhone X is “a value price, actually,” after being asked on ABC’s “Good Morning America” if it was too expensive for “the average American.”
Best Buy, one of Apple’s largest retail partners, apparently disagrees after it decided earlier in the week to stop selling the mobile device outright due to customer complaints and public flak.
And while Cook may be just doing his best salesman pitches since he is the face of Apple, he has conceded that it may not be right for everyone.
“Apple has never been about selling the most of anything,” Cook said in the same GMA interview. “That is not our objective. Our objectives are not big revenues. Our objective is to make the best product that enriches people’s lives. We want to help people.”
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