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Thursday, December 29, 2011

The Apple premium

I needed a pair of headphones for my ipod shuffle and was on the Plaza so I stopped in to see how much they'd be. I figured they couldn't be that much and I like the white ones they have so I'd check it out. I asked a "genius" (I'm not being sarcastic) for their "best, least expensive" ones and he said they were---gulp---$49.95. I was stunned. Not only that but they went up to as high as $79.95 for the "really good ones", I presume. Well, it didn't take me long to blow that off and go up the street to Radio Shack. The difference? Here you go:
Again, Apple earbuds--$49.95/pair. The "knockoffs"? Some other brand's earbuds?
As you can see, an Auvio brand (never heard of them) in black for--check this out--$9.95/pair. Now, I ask you, why would I not pocket the $40.00 minimum savings? Yikes.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is probably the least informed post about headphones I've ever seen. There is a vast difference in the quality of headphones, from the size of the drivers, to the frequency response, to the bias. Your $9.95 Auvio headphones will not match the audio fidelity of even stock Apple headphones, which are not very good, let alone the quality of a legitimate pair of headphones. Suggesting that only fools would pay more than that for earbuds is simply ridiculous.

Mo Rage said...

Completely ignoring the fact that a) this is from 3 years ago and b) you haven't got the cajone's to sign your name to your opinion, I have to tell you, if there's any discernible audio quality, it is nearly indistinguishable, first.

Second, my main point is that there is, in fact, an "Apple premium" price to be paid, obvious as that is. The best example right now is that, since most people want black cell phones, Apple is now offering their iPhone 4s phones for 99 cents with a 2-year contract right now but the black one is $99.

Same cost. Totally different profit margin.