Cheap iPhone was never the plan, says Apple's Tim Cook
CEO Tim Cook has spoken out on cheap mobiles, following the launch of the not-so-cheap iPhone 5C.
Apple boss Tim Cook has spoken out on cheaper mobiles, branding the swathes of affordable smart phones out there "junk" in a Businessweek interview.
When asked about increasing rivalry from inexpensive smart phones, the Apple CEO said, "There's always a large junk part of the market," going on to say, "we're not in the junk business."
Cook's words come a day ahead of the launch of the iPhone 5C, a brightly coloured smart phone that many analysts expected would be a bargain.
That didn't turn out to be the case though -- Apple's plastic-fantastic new mobile starts at a whopping £469. Cook's bold statement on price reaffirms Apple's position as a company that sells pricey but finely machined goods.
"I'm not going to lose sleep over that other market," Cook is quoted as saying, "because it's just not who we are."
Regarding the surprisingly pricey iPhone 5C, Cook is quoted as remarking, "We never had an objective to sell a low-cost phone.
"Our primary objective," the Apple boss reportedly said, "is to sell a great phone and provide a great experience, and we figured out a way to do it at a lower cost."
Cook also took aim at Android's infamous fragmentation issue once more, and speaking of Microsoft's recent purchase of Nokia, said, "Everybody is trying to adopt Apple's strategy," of building both hardware and software.
What do you think of the iPhone 5C? Is it simply too expensive, or would you be happy to pay the price to own one? Let me know in the comments, or on our Facebook wall.
