Tim Cook: $999 is a ‘value price’ for iPhone X

The iPhone X has been getting a lot attention since it was announced last week with its eye-watering starting price. However, according to Apple CEO Tim Cook during a segment on Good Morning America, the iPhone X’s $999 cost is a “value price” for the technology it offers (via 9to5Mac.)

The comment came in response to a viewer-submitted question (around the 6:11 mark in the video) asking if Cook thought the price tag of the iPhone X was out of reach for the average American.

Cook’s answer mostly dodges that issue, and instead focuses on the fact that few people actually buy their phones outright, thanks to the plethora of installment, trade-in, and carrier-offered deals that might make the iPhone X more affordable.

“Well, it’s a value price, actually, for the technology you’re getting. As it turns out most people are now paying for phones over long periods of time. And so very few people will pay the price tag of the phone initially. Also most people actually trade in their current phone, and so that reduces the price further, and some carriers even throw in subsidies and discounts.

And so when we look at it, the phone — the iPhone in particular — has become to essential in our daily lives, people want it to do more and more and more, and so we built more and more technology in to be able to do that.”

Still, even considering all that, a $999 phone is still a $999 phone. And while there are many phrases that you can use to describe the iPhone X, “a value price,” probably isn’t one of them.