Why will they never make a cheap Rolls-Royce? This will never happen becauseRolls-Royce has always been associated with luxury and welfare. This is the auto brand that makes the world’s most expensive and uneconomical cars. Experts say that if the company starts making cheap cars, it will bury itself alive.
Apple, another world-famous brand and the world’s richest tech company, is going to follow in Rolls-Royce’s footsteps. Not so long ago, the company announced that despite all the previous statements, it was not going to produce a cheap iPhone.
Still, the motor industry and the industry of mobile devices are different things. How dangerous is Apple’s new course for the value of its stock? Let’s try to ponder on this question together.
No Cheap iPhones?
Apple officials deny any plans to start the development and production of cheap iPhones. According to Shanghai Evening News (China), Philip W. Schiller, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing at Apple Inc, made it clear that the tech giants had no such plans at all.
However, Western mass media got back to the topic couple of weeks ago. The headlines read that Apple is about to start the production of a new, cheaper version of the world’s most popular mobile device. They mentioned the price range, which is $99-$149.
They even called several reasons for such a crucial decision. One of them is tougher competition in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Because of low income, most people cannot afford to buy Apple products, which are usually rather expensive, thereby choosing cheap smartphones manufactured by their rivals.
The news provoked a wave of discussion all over the Internet, especially in social networks like Facebook. Opinions are divided. While some users welcome Apple’s idea to start the production of cheap iPhones (saying that the company will still be able to make decent profits at the expense of bigger demand), others feel skeptical about this idea. Firstly, they say these are nothing but rumors as Apple won’t ever stoop to making cheap products because to make them cheaper the company will have to decrease the quality of their products by using cheaper components (of poorer quality). This may affect Apple’s overall image and status, which will definitely affect the company’s stock.
Still some experts are sure, that Apple will eventually develop a cheaper version of iPhone. However, they say it won’t be done at the expense of cheaper low-quality components. Apple will never compromise when it comes to quality.
Expert Opinion
This time, most experts share the same opinion on the matter: Apple starts making strategic mistakes.
According to Eugene Olkhovsky, ’s leading expert, Apple shouldn’t follow into Rolls-Royce’s footsteps as the narrow niche of luxurious auto and the wider niche of expensive smartphones are incomparable. If Apple wants to keep making decent profits in the future, it should stay client-oriented, i.e. to make its products with a glance at people’s needs and financial possibilities in order to sell dozens and even hundreds of millions of devices. Obviously, that doesn’t mean they should reduce the quality of their products.
Moreover, as opposed to Rolls-Royce, Apple has a lot of rivals as today’s niche of mobile devices has become highly competitive.
Moreover, it is always crucial to value your brand. The late Steve Jobs has managed to persuade people that Apple works and creates for them and values their interests and desires, which helps the company to deliver products that others cannot.
However, Schiller made a big PR mistake by crashing this image when hinting that profits are more important for the company that quality and people’s interests.
May be that is one of the major reasons why Apple’s stock still cannot recover from the recent drawdown…
