Apple have hardly ever been known for low-cost products, and for sure, they are the only company who can slap a free from £45 per month price tag on their new signature phone, then sit back and wait for everyone to flock to it.

Cripes, the Google Nexus One was a signature smartphone that was marked as free from £35 per month on Vodafone and whilst the N1 didn’t exactly flop, it was nowhere near out-selling any iPhone release. And Google are an exciting, big-time, envelope-pushing brand too, aren’t they? And the N1 was actually a super smartphone too, wasn’t it?

Why So Pricey?
The latest in over-inflated Apple prices must be the iPhone 4 – buy it unlocked from £499 in the UK…. Whaa??!!?!

The only phone that even near matches that is the Xperia X10 at a whooping £479 but that had an uber expensive 12 megapixel slapped on the back, and, come to think of it, HD Video recording, as well.

Apple, if so inclined, could take a lower margin as they know they will sell millions. Instead, Apple recognise that they possess their own market, and that’s the Apple market. It’s not the mobile phone market, it’s not even the gadget market. Some people (scrap that, many people) live for Apple products and so Apple have monopolised their own market and so Apple punt out products with any price they like. Go figure!?

This is somewhat helped by a superfluous level of brand trust that only time and experience can build. It’s not even, believe or not, Apple’s own magic fairy dust which is sprinkled over every product that comes out of Foxconn.

Popularity snowballs too so don’t expect this to end anytime soon. Apple could be putting out an iPhone with 4G connectivity in 2020 that people will pay £800 for (taking into account inflation).

It’s simple. Apple have created fantastic products over an extensive period of time and sold them on gut-wrenching buzzwords such as ‘FaceTime’. Video calling’s been done, but Apple don’t do video calling, they do FaceTime – it’s different, get it?

It’s been done in the mobile phone market, but not in the Apple market. And in the Apple Market a sexy-looking new iPhone with video calling and HD recording comes with a £499 price tag. Welcome, to Job’s world.