[michaelfeathers]

For kicks, re-read the article as something written 4+ years ago substituting "Apple" for "Tesla" and any other cellphone manufacturer for "Audi."

“Tesla has to show it can be consistently profitable with a single product that is priced so high that most buyers can’t afford it,”

Indeed.

[adestefan]

They are in no way comparable.

I make a pretty damn good living and can easily afford a $400-$500 phone, but there is no way I'll be buying a $60,000 car from either Tesla or Audi.

[simonh]

There are people who do buy $60k cars. It's a market that actually exists, just as there was a market for $500+ phones before the iPhone, which at it's introduction actually wasn't the most expensive phone on the market. Just because you're not part of the market for a car in that range is no more relevant than the fact there are plenty of people who would, or could never pay $500+ for a phone is to the success of Apple.

[ianstormtaylor]

Another way to think about it is that if someone told me I would be paying $500 for a phone before the iPhone came out I probably would have laughed at them. In fact, before the iPhone I don't think anyone in my family ever bought a phone that was more expensive than the 1 cent models that came with contracts. Now we buy the $200 models that come with contracts.

[smackfu]

It's one of the fascinating things about smart phones: the top of the line model is easily accessible to most middle-class people, and the rich can't really get anything better.