Apple COO Jeff Williams 'Very Aware Of' Concerns Over Apple Product Cost

applejeffwilliamsApple COO Jeff Williams spoke at Elon University on Friday, Feb. 22 and spoke of his history in joining Apple in 1998. The Times News covers his talk in detail. Williams also took questions from students in the audience. One student asked Williams if Apple had any plans to reduce prices considering the seemingly large margins on Apple products based on analyst reports.

Williams dismissed those reports, suggesting the actual cost of development isn't considered:

“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,” Williams said. “Analysts don’t really understand the cost of what we do and how much care we put into making our products.”

He goes on to explain that to build the Apple Watch's activity tracker, Apple built a physiology lab with 40 nurses and 10,000 participants. Still, Williams conceded it's an area that they are paying attention to:

“It’s something we’re very aware of,” he said. “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 Times News article goes on to cover Williams' talk about his reasons for joining Apple back in 1998, as well as how it feels to be part of a company that has been so successful.

Pricing on Apple's flagship phones has been cited as a factor in iPhone sales underperformance in the last quarter. Apple's flagship ‌iPhone‌ has increased in price over the years with the most recent ‌iPhone‌ XS Max starting at $1099.

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

iPhone SE 4 Vertical Camera Feature

iPhone SE 4 Rumored to Use Same Rear Chassis as iPhone 16

Friday July 19, 2024 7:16 am PDT by
Apple will adopt the same rear chassis manufacturing process for the iPhone SE 4 that it is using for the upcoming standard iPhone 16, claims a new rumor coming out of China. According to the Weibo-based leaker "Fixed Focus Digital," the backplate manufacturing process for the iPhone SE 4 is "exactly the same" as the standard model in Apple's upcoming iPhone 16 lineup, which is expected to...
iPhone 16 Pro Sizes Feature

iPhone 16 Series Is Just Two Months Away: Everything We Know

Monday July 15, 2024 4:44 am PDT by
Apple typically releases its new iPhone series around mid-September, which means we are about two months out from the launch of the iPhone 16. Like the iPhone 15 series, this year's lineup is expected to stick with four models – iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max – although there are plenty of design differences and new features to take into account. To bring ...
iphone 14 lineup

Cellebrite Unable to Unlock iPhones on iOS 17.4 or Later, Leak Reveals

Thursday July 18, 2024 4:18 am PDT by
Israel-based mobile forensics company Cellebrite is unable to unlock iPhones running iOS 17.4 or later, according to leaked documents verified by 404 Media. The documents provide a rare glimpse into the capabilities of the company's mobile forensics tools and highlight the ongoing security improvements in Apple's latest devices. The leaked "Cellebrite iOS Support Matrix" obtained by 404 Media...
tinypod apple watch

TinyPod Turns Your Apple Watch Into an iPod

Wednesday July 17, 2024 3:18 pm PDT by
If you have an old Apple Watch and you're not sure what to do with it, a new product called TinyPod might be the answer. Priced at $79, the TinyPod is a silicone case with a built-in scroll wheel that houses the Apple Watch chassis. When an Apple Watch is placed inside the TinyPod, the click wheel on the case is able to be used to scroll through the Apple Watch interface. The feature works...
bsod

Crowdstrike Says Global IT Outage Impacting Windows PCs, But Mac and Linux Hosts Not Affected

Friday July 19, 2024 3:12 am PDT by
A widespread system failure is currently affecting numerous Windows devices globally, causing critical boot failures across various industries, including banks, rail networks, airlines, retailers, broadcasters, healthcare, and many more sectors. The issue, manifesting as a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD), is preventing computers from starting up properly and forcing them into continuous recovery...
New MacBook Pros Launching Tomorrow With These 4 New Features 2

M5 MacBook Models to Use New Compact Camera Module in 2025

Wednesday July 17, 2024 2:58 am PDT by
Apple in 2025 will take on a new compact camera module (CCM) supplier for future MacBook models powered by its next-generation M5 chip, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Writing in his latest investor note on unny-opticals-2025-business-momentum-to-benefit-509819818c2a">Medium, Kuo said Apple will turn to Sunny Optical for the CCM in its M5 MacBooks. The Chinese optical lens company...

Top Rated Comments

Nik Avatar
71 months ago
Dismissing huge margins by citing stuff like R&D etc ... meanwhile, just look at the actual profits (profit, not revenue) they have according to their own earning reports. The whole argument falls apart when looking at the actual numbers.

Example: NOTHING can justify the ridiculous SSD upgrade prices (even with same performance metrics) but pure greed. Greed which begins to damage their image.
Score: 152 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Naraxus Avatar
71 months ago
Very aware but not going to do a goddamn thing about it because his CEO wants to nickle and dime every customer he has left.

The arrogence of this company is off the charts
Score: 96 Votes (Like | Disagree)
PixelDestructor Avatar
71 months ago
how much care we put into making our products
Wanna explain why macOS has been ignored for years if you care so much about products? It still has bugs from years ago that have never been patched, forget new features.
Why has the Mac Pro still not received an update? Why is the MacBook Pro forcefully sold with a Touch Bar? If you care so much about your products why are you still selling the 6th Generation iPod Touch or the 4th Generation iPad Mini? There are so many segments of Apple's product line that show a complete lack of care and attention to detail compared to just 10 years ago.
Score: 92 Votes (Like | Disagree)
09872738 Avatar
71 months ago
Quote: "It's something we're very aware of," he said. "We do not want to be an elitist company. That's not".

Subtext: "Which is why we price our SSDs so very reasonably. The upgrade to 1 TB barely is 1000 bucks for what is available for less than one quarter of that in retail. Hence we overcharge by 4x only, isn't that very generous of us?"
Score: 68 Votes (Like | Disagree)
now i see it Avatar
71 months ago
 executive defending . yawn
Score: 65 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bartolo5 Avatar
71 months ago
I can perfectly afford most of current Apple products at their current prices but I simply refuse to, out of principle. To name a couple of things that irritate me:

* Not including a fast charger in the box after paying $1000+ for their flagship phones is ridiculous
* Forcing me to buy a macbook pro with touchbar (instead of traditional keyboard) for semidecent current intel specs with huge markups is ridiculous. Touchbar is an antiproductivity tool IMHO.

I'm perfectly happy paying Apple premium prices for their products but there needs to be a justification. Current tactics are just obvious cash grabs that are turning everyone off.
Score: 60 Votes (Like | Disagree)