By Bernardo De la Cruz
Courage was the main reason Apple said they removed the headphone jack from the new iPhone 7. It’s innovative and opens the door to many new possibilities. Of course it is all about the money. More specifically the amount Apple earns from their very own Lighting Port.
Companies that make 3rd party devices or adaptors have to pay Apple a fee for every one of those that they sell; a good 10% is estimated, though we will never know since Apple forces their 3rd party folk to keep quiet with signed agreements.
To add even more money in their pockets, before 3rd party products can be made, the companies have to purchase a license to mass-produce their products for each individual product. So if I wanted to make 2 lighting cables of 2 different colors I’d first have to get the license per color type, which is priced at about $550 (though don’t quote me on that) and then I pay apple 10% per cable I sell.
While those numbers seem crazy, there are many 3rd party companies that don’t have a problem signing on. Though if you compare that licensing and product price to other companies like HDMI, you’d be surprised to learn that what Apple is charging is more than crazy. HDMI charges 15 Cents per unit sold. As consumers that should tell us a lot about where Apple stands in terms of wanting their products to be used.
So back to Jack and why it’s at the bottom of the ocean (shameless Titanic joke). Apple doesn’t own the license for the headphone jack, which means no extra money for them. Add the fact that they are strict in enforcing their policies for 3rd party manufactures, they also earn from lawsuits against those who don’t have a license and decide to sell 3rd party products anyways.
But we can’t be mad at Apple for wanting to squeeze money out of every corner of the world, we as consumers are drawn in by their genius marketing campaign and accept that they will rule us all one day.
Bernardo De la Cruz, es graduado en Computación y Tecnología en Pace University y es asesor de Westchester Hispano.
Sala de Redacción/Westchester Hispano
Publicado el 22 de Octubre, 2016