There do in fact exist $100k iPhones marketed for the ultra-wealthy, see Vertu’s lineup. Their most expensive phone is $504k, and seems expensive mainly because they bejewel it with rubies, emeralds, and diamonds.
The stats for the phone are not mentioned, however they have GIA documents certifying their use of real diamonds.
Next is basically the same deal but with alligator skin.
Then we get more interesting. Their third most expensive phone is $110k which markets itself as the “World’s first AI agent phone for entrepreneurs”. Here are the specs
Eh, I don’t think this really disproves the OP (who mentions bejeweled iPhones as well). This isn’t really a “$100k phone”, it’s a normal $1k phone with $99k of jewelry tastelessly bolted on. You’re not getting a 50,000 mAh battery, a gaming GPU, and Wi-Fi 12 plus 6G support in a 300 gram package here. Which, indeed: why not?
A side note: “Your strength as a rationalist is in your power to be more confused by fiction than reality”. I had also believed there weren’t any $100k iPhones, and was not convinced your explanation, and hypothesized the typical reason for such things: economies of scale. But then I sat down, had Claude look up the fixed costs associated with phone production, which turned out to be like $1B, which you could amortize over eg 100k of the richest individuals ($1e9/1e5 phones=$10,000/phone)! So then I figured such a company really ought to exist, I asked Claude if there existed any such phone company, and Claude mentioned Vertu!
Huh, this is interesting. I think there’s something missing in my original idea, because I feel like iPhone : Vertu :!: toyota : Bentley. The fact that the Vertu phone appears like a regular phone just bejeweled might be the difference, but I’m less sure now.
It’s possible that my prediction at the end of the essay (that there’d be luxury smartphones soon OR there’d be innovation) might just be arriving early. I’m unsure.
There do in fact exist $100k iPhones marketed for the ultra-wealthy, see Vertu’s lineup. Their most expensive phone is $504k, and seems expensive mainly because they bejewel it with rubies, emeralds, and diamonds.
The stats for the phone are not mentioned, however they have GIA documents certifying their use of real diamonds.
Next is basically the same deal but with alligator skin.
Then we get more interesting. Their third most expensive phone is $110k which markets itself as the “World’s first AI agent phone for entrepreneurs”. Here are the specs
Eh, I don’t think this really disproves the OP (who mentions bejeweled iPhones as well). This isn’t really a “$100k phone”, it’s a normal $1k phone with $99k of jewelry tastelessly bolted on. You’re not getting a 50,000 mAh battery, a gaming GPU, and Wi-Fi 12 plus 6G support in a 300 gram package here. Which, indeed: why not?
The third most expensive phone, the $110k one, is not bejeweled and in fact seems like it is mostly so expensive because of its specs?
Edit: Oh actually looking up what the specs mean, maybe it’s so expensive just because of marketing.
Those aren’t iPhones, though, and I think the distinction is relevant in the context of the OP.
Here is a >$100k iphone I found by Caviar, it is $196k, and its primary value proposition seems to be the fact it has a Rolex glued to its back
Caviar is a company whose business model seems to be to bejewel iPhones and sell them to Russian oligarchs.
A side note: “Your strength as a rationalist is in your power to be more confused by fiction than reality”. I had also believed there weren’t any $100k iPhones, and was not convinced your explanation, and hypothesized the typical reason for such things: economies of scale. But then I sat down, had Claude look up the fixed costs associated with phone production, which turned out to be like $1B, which you could amortize over eg 100k of the richest individuals ($1e9/1e5 phones=$10,000/phone)! So then I figured such a company really ought to exist, I asked Claude if there existed any such phone company, and Claude mentioned Vertu!
Huh, this is interesting. I think there’s something missing in my original idea, because I feel like iPhone : Vertu :!: toyota : Bentley. The fact that the Vertu phone appears like a regular phone just bejeweled might be the difference, but I’m less sure now.
It’s possible that my prediction at the end of the essay (that there’d be luxury smartphones soon OR there’d be innovation) might just be arriving early. I’m unsure.