I don’t believe the Boots Theory of Socioeconomics applies here. It rarely applies to luxury goods.
1. A phone can easily be lost, stolen, or damaged beyond repair. A $25 phone isn’t 8x more likely to break than a $200 phone, so the damage/lost/theft risk is much higher with the $200 phone.
2. People that buy $25 phones are presumably okay not having access to the latest versions of apps and the latest security updates.
3. $25 is 8x cheaper than $200. Even if we assume a rapid rate of replacing the $25 every 6 months it would take 4 years before the $200 phone pays off. That’s a poor ROI for $175, and the $25 phones will probably last longer than 6 months.
1. A phone can easily be lost, stolen, or damaged beyond repair. A $25 phone isn’t 8x more likely to break than a $200 phone, so the damage/lost/theft risk is much higher with the $200 phone.
2. People that buy $25 phones are presumably okay not having access to the latest versions of apps and the latest security updates.
3. $25 is 8x cheaper than $200. Even if we assume a rapid rate of replacing the $25 every 6 months it would take 4 years before the $200 phone pays off. That’s a poor ROI for $175, and the $25 phones will probably last longer than 6 months.