[toyg]

Inflation has been in the (low) single digits for about 20 years in most developed nations.

An iPhone cost $200 in 2008.

The combined rate of inflation in the US since 2008 is 17.2%. So an iPhone should cost less than $240 today, if inflation were the main driving factor.

The cheapest iPhone costs $450 now. The technological equivalent of that 2008 model costs almost 3x.

Inflation is not a driving factor. You could raise IT prices 5% YOY and nobody would bat an eyelid.

[ken]

No, $200 was the "subsidized price" as part of an AT&T service plan: "AT&T, like most U.S. carriers, offers a variety of phones that we sell below our actual cost when customers agree to sign service agreements." [1]

The cheapest non-subsidized ("no commitment price") iPhone you could get back then was $499. At your 17% inflation rate, that's almost $600 in today's dollar, so Apple's entry level iPhone is actually a little cheaper than in 2008.

[1]: https://www.att.com/Common/merger/files/pdf/iPhone/Pricing_U...

[kec]

The unsubsidized launch price of the base model iPhone was $499 in 2007, which would be $600~ today, not too far off from the $749 price of a base Xr, and worse than the $449 of a base 7 today.

[bryanlarsen]

The 2008 iPhone cost $200 + $480 of operator subsidies.

[mixmastamyk]

Was only that cheap with a contract, right?