[williamtwild]

10k a year? Where would one libe earning 10k a year? A tent in the woods?

[dr_zoidberg]

There are countries were earning 12k USD a year puts you in the top 1%. Just to give you some context.

[yeahsure]

I live in one of these countries. There are lots of people who earn a lot less than 12k/yr but buy brand new iPhones. Why? Because their resale value is awesome. They lose very little value over the years, because a lot of people want to own one, so even used ones retain value. Even if it's something old like an iphone 6 or something like that.

If you buy an android phone, chances are you're going to sell it for a lot less than you got it for unless you're talking about a flagship that's not too old.

[dr_zoidberg]

It's also a status symbol, and as such they're bought not because of their intrinsic value.

[eptcyka]

If I was earning 10k a year, I wouldn't want to buy an apple device new. A good return too would be incredibly expensive.

[toastal]

Thailand it seemed like the going rate for a dev in Bangkok was about $17k USD salary