Apple Claims Company Does Not Want to Be ‘Elitist’ as iPhone Prices Rise

Tech giant Apple has claimed that it does not want to be “elitist” as the price of iPhones continues to rise.

Business Insider reports that during a speech at Elon University in North Carolina, Apple COO Jeff Williams said that the company does not want to be “elitist” when he was asked about the rising price of iPhones. During his speech before students at the university, Williams was asked about the disparity between the production cost of iPhones and the phones steep retail price.

Williams replied: “The stories that come out about the cost of our products [have been] the bane of my existence from the beginning of time, including our early days,” said Williams. “Analysts don’t really understand the cost of what we do and how much care we put into making our products.”

Williams stated that the company was aware that the iPhone’s price point has been steadily rising, an issue which has hurt sales in key market areas such as India where Apple has only three percent of the mobile market share. Williams added: “We do not want to be an elitist company. That’s not — we want to be an egalitarian company, and we’ve got a lot of work going on in developing markets.”

The average selling price of iPhones has increased significantly since 2010, rising by nearly 27 percent to $793. The iPhone X, for example, costs nearly $1000 while other models such as the iPhone XS and XS Max are sold for over $1000. The company has also branched out into the high-priced smartwatch category, and introduced wireless “AirPod” earbuds, at $159 a pair.