iphone ringing doom of luxury phones?
After diversifying in the trendy luxury eyewear market niche, watchmaker TAG Heuer seems to have followed a cold-blodded logic by deciding to jump on the luxury phone bandwagon and releasing the € 3,400.00 Meridiist developed with ModelLabs.
Believed to be pitched against Nokia’s Vertu, TAG Heuer Meridiist features state-of-the-Art hardware. But as for the rest of luxury phones, I feel the days of over-expensive products are numbered due to the popularity of the iphone. Here are some of the reasons why:
- Hardware fineness is arguable. I mean, are normal phones that cheap?
- Like any computing device, luxury phones become outdated after a 6 months lifespan. Even if one is rich enough to spend several thousands on a phone, it isn’t nice to know that the expensive device bought six month ago now sucks.
- Operating Systems and software have nothing particular and do not offer extensions.
- It is not the iphone.
The reasoning goes like this:
- If rich people use the most stylish products
- If the iphone is considered the most stylish phone
- Then rich people must use the iphone
Besides being itself a fashion icon, the Apple phone and its craze gave birth to blogs dedicated to celebrities with the iphone. The Not only does it offer fine hardware, but its software is one of the most praised by the press. For the rich, there is the possibility of staying above the mass by customising the phone with a luxury carrying case, precious metal or precious stones; solutions that make the Vertu or the Meridiist redundant.
