Forget Mercedes, Louis Vuitton or Rolex. The one product that tells rich from poor is an Apple iPhone.
Seriously? Cue protests from stereotype-hating Android users.
But findings from two University of Chicago economists who produced the National Bureau of Economic Research working paper suggest that the iPhone is the number one way to guess if someone is rich.
Accordingly 69.1% of respondents with an iPhone were defined as being in the top quartile of households by income.
In other words, there is no individual brand as accurately predictive of its owner being in a high-income bracket than an Apple iPhone, based on 2016 data.
Read: Apple poised to shift more of its iPhone production to India
The iPhone beat other brand categories such as the iPad (66.3%) and Verizon Wireless (61%), based on 6,394 respondents to the questionnaires of Mediamark Research Intelligence.
In 2015, Land O’Lakes regular butter topped the high-income brand stakes with 59.2%, followed by 58.7% for Kikkoman soy sauce.
Meanwhile the use of Android devices is also a strong indicator of wealth. Some 59.5% of people using Android phones are among households with the highest incomes.
But Apple, the world’s most valuable brand, rated worth US$182.8 billion by Forbes this year, remains in the ascendancy.
The brand may become even more dominant in years to come, as the iPhone X and its follow-ups continue to sell almost as fast as the company can produce them, even while prices continue to rise.
Thus it seems increasingly fair to state that only the rich can afford new Apple phones.
Read: New Xiaomi phone looks like iPhone, but operates differently
The same finding applies to China, given the rapid expansion of its middle class – and how many of them seek to be seen carrying an iPhone.
Meanwhile, competitors Huawei and Xiaomi market models strikingly similar to the iPhone X, which sell at half the price. These phones are finding fans among income groups below those who gravitate towards Apple products.
Read: Huawei’s ambitious goals in HK phone market may be met
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Well… based on personal experience, Apple products “unquestionably are superior to Samsung” in areas of contents, ease of use, and durability, although I do not know how well Huawei and Xisomi technology is, as compared to others. But, I heard Huawei at least are pretty acceptable in Chinese markets. But, like BMW, like Mercedes Benz, like the Oprah show, Like the Ellen Degeneres show, like America Have Talent, all of which are name brands, it’s all the catch in the Chinese markets, regardless if overseas, in Hong Kong, or in Mainland China. Mentality of the strangeness of the Chinese animal I call it…
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SURVEY IS A GD LIE!! ALL WELLFARE RECIPIENTS GET A NEW FREE IPHONE.AND THAT IS ALOT OF FREE PHONES. AND ANOTHER ARE PEOPLE WHO LIVE AT HOME AND HAVE NO EXPENSES. NEXT TIME YOU GO THE MALL TAKE BETTER LOOK AT WHO USES WHAT AND YOU WILL SEE WHAT I M SAYING.