dmmarck
Retired Moderator
- Dec 28, 2011
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I think part of it is, is the mobile market is about utility right now. We haven't reached a point were a luxury phone is truly desired yet.
Once market saturation really hits and it hasn't yet. Companies will look for ways to differentiate themselves.
I haven't bought a smart watch yet because I haven't found one with all the features I want or like.
But I keep eyeing this swatch because I love the looks of it.
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Do I think it is premium vs another watch. Not really, but it has dials and it is blue, two of my favorite things.
And that is how smartphones right now should be looked at because the truth is, none of them are really premium.
But this is relative, is it not? The premium feeling is only really elicited once you know something else (and in all likelihood, that something else is not premium). For example, holding and using a Galaxy Nexus and then holding and using an HTC One comprises two entirely different experiences and emotional reactions. But you would not necessarily "know" that feeling without having seen something else. Hence, it's all relative.
That Swatch evokes no emotional response for me, yet my Seiko Monster does. Is the Swatch any more premium than my Seiko? That I do not know. But I do know that something like an Audemars Piguet is.
The utility issue is correct, but don't discount how many different entities have their hands in the mobile phone pot. Not only do you have manufacturers (hardware), but you have software companies (Android/Microsoft, not Apple since their software is exclusive to their hardware), carriers, government regulators, and even retailers. Those constraints simply do not exist in most luxury markets.
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The problem is that people want to be able to assign a quantitative number to "feel". Like it can be mathematically defined. It can't, and it's not always an easy concept to try and explain.
The only number one can truly assign to premium is the number you'd trade for that item. That's it.