Re: Hermès
"The Swiss sell watches for 3 times the price of the aforementioned top-of-the-range iPhone"
Yes but in another 15-20 years time, a well made Swiss watch that has been looked after will still hold its value and may have even increased its worth, unlike a $1000 iPhone which probably won't even switch on in 20 years.
I am not saying there isn't a market for a luxury brand of phone, there are certainly people out there with the money to spend a $1000 on a phone. But Apple also need to consider the current owners of older and the SE models that have been left out of any affordable upgrade route. Many iPhone owners are young people who want iPhones because that is what *insert vacuous celebrity* has, but they can't afford to pay iPhone X prices.