Let's forget for a moment the romanticized narrative about the "magic" of Apple products. If we coldly analyze the company's supply chain movements and historical pricing policy in Europe, the figure is clear: the first foldable iPhone it will not go below 2.299 Euros in its entry-level version. It's an aggressive figure, even by Cupertino's standards, but it responds to a purely extractive market logic: Apple has taken a long time to enter a segment that Samsung has already thoroughly explored, and it does so with the intention of imposing the highest price in the sector.
Apple isn't trying to democratize this technology. On the contrary, my experience with their "first-generation" releases tells me they're designing a product for a very specific niche that isn't price-sensitive. We're looking at a device that will cost almost twice as much as a launch iPhone 15 Pro, a strategy of luxury segmentation which seeks to offset the very high cost of the flexible panels and the complexity of a hinge that, hopefully, will meet its durability standards.
It's not just about engineering, it's about margins. Apple isn't going to launch this new luxury product with a profit margin less than 40%To maintain that level of revenue on a device whose internal components are significantly more expensive than those of a flat iPhone, the only way out is to pass that cost—and a generous extra—on to the end consumer, especially the European one, who always ends up paying the highest bill.
The benchmark for the competition: Samsung as a price shield
To set this price of 2.299 euros, Apple has taken a close look at its main competitor. Samsung Galaxy ZFold 7 It's already priced around $1.899 in the US and its base model has already surpassed €2.000 in Europe at launch. Samsung has done the dirty work of getting the market used to paying computer prices for a phone, and Apple is going to take advantage of this paved road to position itself a step above.
The difference is that, while Samsung typically offers aggressive discounts and launch promotions within a few months, Apple will maintain a fixed price of €2.299 throughout the product's lifecycle. It's a cynical but effective move: they're using Samsung's price as a floor to justify their own ceiling. If the Galaxy Fold is the standard, the foldable iPhone will be sold as the gold standardallowing themselves the luxury of costing 200 or 300 euros more just for the logo and the cohesion of their ecosystem.
"Apple doesn't compete on performance per euro; it competes on the ability to convince the user that spending 2.299 euros is a necessary investment to avoid being left behind in the next major hardware transition."
In the United States, this same device will likely be announced by $1.899The enormous gap to €2.299 in Europe isn't solely explained by the 21% VAT; it's explained by a policy of protecting profits against currency fluctuations and operating costs in Europe that Apple is unwilling to absorb. Simply put, it's a tax for living on this side of the Atlantic. In Spain, we also have to add... significantly lower salaries than in most European countriesBut this isn't Apple's fault.
Obsolescence and support: Does a €2.300 mobile phone last long enough?
The biggest strategic problem I see with a €2.299 iPhone is mechanical durability. Apple has built its reputation on the fact that Their phones last five or six yearsHowever, foldable screen technology has an inherent physical expiration date. The polymer layers and adhesives suffer fatigue that rigid glass doesn't. How do you explain to a customer that their device, which costs over two thousand euros, could show a crease after only two years?
This is where the service strategy comes in. This price will make AppleCare+ type insurance almost mandatory. which will further increase the cost of owning the device. Apple knows that foldable hardware is a minefield for after-sales service. By setting such a high price, they are protecting themselves against potential mass repairs or screen replacements, a cost they have already calculated and which is implicit in that €2.299 price tag.
Furthermore, this price pushes users towards a "renting" or pay-per-use model. Few people will pay that amount upfront; most will opt for a subscription. financing plans that ensure the customer remains within the closed ecosystem of the brand for years. It's a way of trapping the consumer in a cycle of high-end technological debt that's very difficult to break out of once you get used to the big screen.
A (flexible) glass roof
Set the price of the foldable iPhone at 2.299 Euros It's a calculated risk. Apple is confident that its brand is strong enough for users to ignore the fact that they're paying the price of two iPhone Pros for a single device that essentially does the same thing but folds. It's the culmination of a trend where the iPhone has ceased to be a democratic tool and has become a status article prohibitive for many.
My view is that this move could be counterproductive in the long run. While it will generate record profits per unit sold, it also distances Apple from the economic reality of a large portion of its users. At €2.299, The foldable iPhone is not an evolution of the phone; it's a luxury experiment. This tests how much we're willing to pay for a solution to a problem—screen size—that many have already solved with an iPad. Ultimately, we're not paying for a revolution, but for the privilege of being the first to try Apple's version of a technology that others have already perfected.
To this we must add the uncertainty of the secondhand market. Historically, buying an iPhone has been the closest thing to acquiring a safe haven asset; while a high-end Android phone lost half its value the moment it left the store, the iPhone retained up to 70% of its value after the first year. However, with the foldable iPhone priced at €2.299, this dynamic could be turned upside down. The used market severely penalizes technical uncertaintyA secondhand buyer looks for reliability, and a screen that's been bent thousands of times by a stranger is a risk too steep to take without a steep discount. No matter how prominently the Apple logo adorns the back, the physical degradation of the organic panel and the wear and tear on the hinge could make this device the fastest-depreciating iPhone in history.