Insider Finance - Business - Apple's absurd price tag

View in browser

June 8, 2023

Hi, Insiders! This is Lisa Ryan, an executive editor on Insider’s audience team, writing to you from a very smoky New York City. Apple released its much-anticipated Vision Pro headset this week. The two biggest problems seem to be: 1. You look goofy wearing it, and 2. It’s extremely expensive. But in today’s Big Story, our editor in chief Nicholas Carlson dives into why that $3,499 price tag is actually part of a brilliant strategy.

We’re also covering:

Let’s be honest — CNN’s next CEO is screwed.
Why the SEC's lawsuits against Coinbase and Binance are a big deal.
Google tells NYC office staff to WFH as smoke covers the east coast.

— Lisa Ryan

If this was forwarded to you, sign up here.

THE LATEST

Carlson, crypto, & Trump

Fox news accused former host Tucker Carlson of breaching his contract, per Axios. It comes after Carlson launched a new streaming show on Twitter on Tuesday. Read more.
A perfectly timed trade 24 minutes before the SEC's big crypto crackdown likely made an investor millions.
Donald Trump's attorneys were notified by federal prosecutors that he is the target of a criminal investigation, per reports.

THE BIG STORY

Apple's absurd price tag

Is this a picture of a person wondering whether $4,000 was too much to spend on a face computer? Apple

The crowd at the unveiling of Apple's Vision Pro headset audibly groaned when they found out how wildly expensive it was: $3,499. But setting the price so high is actually really smart.

Insider’s Nicholas Carlson texted with Matthew Ball, an investor in the metaverse world and an advisor to a bunch of companies, who told him that Apple’s taking a “Tesla approach — start with the Model S, eventually get to the Model 3, and then keep lowering its price while improving its performance.”

This strategy is called "price skimming," where a company sets the initial price of a product very high, then gradually lowers it over time. Apple knows that early adopters are likely to pay, it'll keep profits high, and it's good for the brand.

Plus, Apple has never had much issue with charging more for its devices than competitors. After all, when the first iPhone was announced in 2007, it cost $499 for the basic 4GB model — and you could get a good Blackberry for $200 at the time.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

TOP READS

CNN, wildfires, & AI

Gary Hershorn/Getty Images

Wildfire smoke is making parts of the northeastern US look like Mars. Wildfires in eastern Canada sent plumes south. In NYC, thick smoke prompted airport ground stops and delays. Google told staff in the city to work from home. Actor Jodie Comer couldn't breathe during her Broadway show. A timelapse video shows smoke engulfing the skyline.
CNN’s next CEO is screwed. CNN CEO Chris Licht stepped down after his disastrous profile in The Atlantic, and Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav is already on the hunt for his replacement. But whoever gets the gig is set to face inevitable doom because cable news is dying.
The SEC is waging an “all-out assault” on crypto. It's been a watershed week for the cryptocurrency industry, in the wake of SEC lawsuits against Binance and Coinbase. Experts said the suits were a real threat to how both businesses operated in the US.
A teen found her mom's debit card and spent $64,000 on mobile games, wiping out her family’s life savings. When her mother checked her bank account, she realized it was left with a balance of only seven cents. Read more.
AI could save the stock market. AI-affiliated mega-cap stocks like Nvidia have been backstopping a market facing a series of headwinds. It's a push-and-pull relationship that could define stocks for the next decade.
ChatGPT wrote an episode of a TV show. Charlie Brooker, the creator of “Black Mirror,” said the AI-generated episode “reads plausibly” at first but on closer inspection was “shit.” How it inspired him to write better.
The typical Singaporean millennial. They live in one of the world's most expensive cities, were raised to chase cars, cash, and condos, and say they feel torn between worlds. Insider spoke to six Singapore millennials to find out what makes them tick. Meet them here.

TAKE A LOOK

Wave House

Simon Berlyn

Inside a legendary Malibu beach house. Wave House, which counts Rod Stewart among its former owners, sits right on the edge of Malibu’s famous beach. It’s just hit the market for the first time in 36 years for a whopping $49.5 million. Take a look inside.

WATCH THIS

NYC smoky air

New York City had the worst air pollution in the world this week when smoke from Canada's wildfires covered the area. Watch here.

CAN'T GET ENOUGH?

Keep up with Insider

Get Insider's app and notifications to be the first to find out about the stories you want to know — from tech to business. Download it here.
Become an Insider subscriber to get actionable, high-value news and insights to improve your career, company, and community. Subscribe here.
Want more of Insider in your inbox? Sign up for our newsletters here.

This edition was curated by Lisa Ryan, and edited by Hallam Bullock, Nathan Rennolds, and J.R. Stacey. Get in touch: insidertoday@insider.com.

Email sent to: you

Manage your email preferences | Unsubscribe | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy

Insider Finance - Business - Apple's absurd price tag

Older messages

Wall Street: No more free lunches in tech

What’s next for Trump

Inside Army Jungle School

Apple vs. Meta

Inside CNN’s epic fail

You Might Also Like

Why I'm loving tech stocks right now (It's not about AI)

Cement Wars

Tap into your home equity

Longreads + Open Thread

Are these the two best trading hours?

🌭 America gets the works

A Page From Uber's Playbook: Disrupting Social Media Marketing

Design Your Dream European Getaway

📉 Bonds saw a selloff

Could private student loans help you?