> Is it unethical for us to sell iPhones for $800 when they only cost $20 to produce?
If you're going to make an argument, why make a strawman?
My $1000 iPhone 7+ costs roughly $220 in materials. [1]
Apple's stated gross margins are 39%, and last quarter was a net profit of $17.9b on revenue of $78.4b [2], so that's 22% net profit. So overheads are somewhere around 17%.
To sum up where your $1000 on an iPhone goes:
$220 components
$390 other cost of goods: assembly, transport, packaging, blah, blah.
$170 overheads
$220 net profit
I'm more than happy to allow Apple $220 of profit on my iPhone. You may not, but let's debate that rather than a ridiculous claim that they're only $20 to produce.
> I'm more than happy to allow Apple $220 of profit on my iPhone. You may not, but let's debate that rather than a ridiculous claim that they're only $20 to produce.
Huh? Your extensive nit-picking doesn't refute the parent's point or even relate to it in a meaningful way.
The point of his comment had nothing to do with the actual cost of an iPhone. It was just to make a point that iPhones as an example make a strong profit margin.
You called the previous poster's exaggerated example a strawman, then made an inappropriately detailed response to an argument that wasn't being made in the first place.
If you're going to make an argument, why make a strawman?
My $1000 iPhone 7+ costs roughly $220 in materials. [1]
Apple's stated gross margins are 39%, and last quarter was a net profit of $17.9b on revenue of $78.4b [2], so that's 22% net profit. So overheads are somewhere around 17%.
To sum up where your $1000 on an iPhone goes:
I'm more than happy to allow Apple $220 of profit on my iPhone. You may not, but let's debate that rather than a ridiculous claim that they're only $20 to produce.[1] https://9to5mac.com/2016/09/20/649-iphone-7-estimated-to-cos... [2] https://www.macrumors.com/2017/01/31/q1-2017-results/