"If Apple could make a good quality phone with 25-30% margins at $300, they would do it in a heartbeat. And for most of the world $300 is a a premium phone. It wouldn't "dilute the brand" one bit. Also, consider Apple's recent hires: many of them have worked with high-end fashion brands (e.g Burberry) which have become very good at producing more accessible products without making the brand seem cheap. Ahrendts, in particular, is very good at this - she inherited a Burberry which had cheapened its brand, and managed to move it back into the mainstream of luxury goods while keeping it accessible." - Ian Betteridge