[everforward]

It's a socioeconomic indicator for high status, and it would be foolish to ignore that as part of Apple's strategy.

Android doesn't suffer from that kind of complaint because it's often perceived as the opposite: a socioeconomic indicator for low status. It's socially acceptable to mock people for choosing high socioeconomic indicators, but not low socioeconomic indicators.

"You only bought that because you're rich" has a very different ring than "you only bought that because you're poor".

That perception of low vs high indicators is somewhat wrong (high-end Android phones cost more than the latest iPhone, used iPhones are pretty affordable) but it is the perception.