Americans are known for something: when it comes to their choice of smartphones and most electronic gadgets, Apple products are usually the first choice. This is not always a matter of personal preference for most of them; it's a choice that has been made for them for some very clear reasons. First, Apple is an American company that dominated the American smartphone and computer space for a long time before other brands (Chinese brands) were allowed to come into the country. Even to date, in the United States of America, it's hard for a lot of smartphone brands to find a spot, which is why it's difficult to see Americans use any other device other than Apple's. Another interesting argument to make is that Apple devices are just so good and usually of higher quality that anyone owning them usually owns them for a long time and usually only tries to try out something new out of the need to "try" and not out of gross dissatisfaction.
Apple is a stronghold in the American technology industry, and that is not changing anytime soon. To show Apple's strong dominance, at some point, Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, suggested that iPhones be used for elections. Also, it is no news that Apple's iMessage is used to bully kids (as in the "Green and Blue Bubble" saga). Basically, individuals who don't have iPhones are bullied because their messages appear differently on iPhones.
Regardless of how popular iPhones are in the US, they are still quite expensive. Most Americans can only afford an iPhone through contracts, and most still can't afford newer iPhones and are stuck with the older models. However, the average American should be making in a month what a Nigerian is making in a year, so what explains this trend?
iPhones are all over the place in Nigeria
I reported for compulsory national service, which is required of graduates in my country, Nigeria, which was once the world capital of poverty (it's good another country now has that status). At all stages of my journey, I noticed an unusual trend: everyone was using an iPhone. Most of them were using recent models with a notch display. This was an unsettling sight. Almost all the young people I met or saw from a distance had an iPhone in hand, and the majority were using the Pro iPhones.
Why is this disturbing? Nigerians are poor, very poor. Most people who have a good job can't afford a new (recent) iPhone in their first month on the job.
Here's something to know: The minimum wage in Nigeria is 30,000 NGN (Nigerian Naira), the equivalent of 40 USD. The cheapest usable (still receiving software support or losing support within a year or two) iPhone is currently the iPhone 6s. Currently, in the used/refurbished market, the lowest price I could find for this device was 50,000 NGN (66.6 USD).
That means an average Nigerian receiving the minimum wage needs to work for 2 months to be able to afford an iPhone 6s, and that's if they are highly frugal with their expenses. But the iPhone 6s is now out of style because any iPhone with bezels around the screen is considered old and not new. The goal for most iPhone lovers is to transition to a notched iPhone such as the iPhone X, XR, 11, 12, 13, and 14 non Pros.
A Side Note: While Apple's change in the iPhone's design (from bezelled displays to notched displays and now a pill-shaped cutout, a.k.a. the "dynamic island") is a sign of innovation, it is also clearly evident that it also serves a psychological purpose. Having the newer design makes you feel like you are in sync with the development, while the older designs make one feel like they have been left out.
A classic example of this is the iPhone 8 and iPhone X. While the iPhone 8 was released alongside the iPhone X, the average person will always pick the X over the 8 because of the X's more updated design.
Apple has used the same strategy with the new iPhone 14 Pro lineups, which feature a dynamic island-peel shape over a notch, creating the same divide as the iPhone 8 and X.
Old iPhones - 1st Gen Designs with a Bezel
A Notched iPhone - 2nd Gen Designs with a Notch
New Iteration of the iPhone - Current Designs with the Dynamic Island!
So, with the notched iPhones gaining all the fame in the hearts of Nigerians, are they cheaper? or at least affordable? I decided to find out. A quick search for the iPhone XR, which is one of the oldest notched iPhones, shows the current market price.
The cheapest I could find on the used market for an iPhone XR was priced at 160,000 NGN (213.3 USD). This is equivalent to 5.3 months of work and earning the Nigerian minimum wage (without using it for anything else).
Compounding everything is this: Nigerians are already buying iPhone 14s. This isn't available on the used market, and trust me, it ain't cheap. Looking at the base model iPhone 14, it is priced at 790,000 NGN (1053 USD), equivalent to 26 months (2 years plus 2 month) of work earning the minimum wage. Or let's go with the Pro models, which are currently being sold out on one of the popular online stores in Nigeria, Jumia, the iPhone 14 Pro retails for 1,200,000 NGN (1600 USD), which is equivalent of 40 months of work earning the minimum wage (3.3 years of work, when iPhone 17 launches). Notice that there are just 2 Units left:
So, what explains the iPhones Nigerians are carrying like basic phones? Let's examine some anecdotal evidence.
1 - Nigerians are hardworking & Some Have Very Rich Parents
There is a legitimate population of Nigerian youths who are working really hard and earning really well. As a result, they can afford expensive gadgets such as iPhones and high-end Android phones. Furthermore, because iPhones have a high resale value, it is a little easier for them to trade in their old iPhones for a profit and easily upgrade. Some of these hardworking Nigerians include some of them here on Hive who are legitimately contributing to the blockchain, some computer scientists, as well as some skit makers (comedians and influencers) who really benefit from the use of iPhones for shooting their skits.
As a result, a pattern emerges among these hardworking Nigerians: they obtain iPhones out of necessity. They use their iPhones as tools. Thus, they utilise more than 50% of the device's capabilities.
We can't also ignore the fact that a good number of Nigerians have very rich parents that can easily afford these devices without breaking the bank.
Nigerians are Hustlers
The get-rich-quick syndrome is still significant among Nigerian youths. The alternative to getting rich quick is at least showing that you're rich. So, among a few Nigerians who aren't rich, they like to give the impression that they are, and one way they do this is by showcasing a status symbol, and what better status symbol could there be than a device with an Apple logo on it?
These hustlers can go the extra mile and more to ensure they get these devices. Prostitution, at various levels and degrees, is still prevalent among Nigerian ladies. It's difficult to imagine a Nigerian girl living in a Nigerian city not being guilty in some way. If they are not into full-fledged prostitution, they are into video prostitution (a form of sexting), hookups, and other vices. For the average Nigerian young man who lives in one of her cities, fraud (commonly known as "Yahoo" or "419") is common, and this involves tricking people into giving you money for a thing or two that won't be carried out. Nigerian young men even go into rituals and other spiritual practises to do this (something called "Yahoo Plus").
The average Nigerian youth is under pressure to own an iPhone. Either her friends rave about their devices or his friends behave similarly.
Nigerian Youths are Not Guided
I conducted a simple survey to find out why the majority of Nigerians buy iPhones, and it was clear that peer pressure is almost always directly related to iPhone purchase among youths. Most of them just get an iPhone to piss off their colleagues or counterparts, to fit in, or to simply stay trendy or in vogue. Some have a similar or even better device that's not an iPhone, but they'd rather trade their phone for an iPhone that has lower quality (spec for spec) than their Android device.
Another important factor is the obvious lack of financial intelligence among these young people. You can't trust the average Nigerian youth to make a sound financial decision. We all lack financial training. It's almost hard to properly prioritize. So, when they fulfil the need for the iPhone, they end up with regrets when they later discover that an iPhone wasn't one of their top needs.
Most of these youths, like other youth around the world, either feel or are independent of their parents or a guardian, or have discovered that their parents or guardian is not a reliable guide for sound financial decisions and have instead become their own guardian over time.
Thus, among the legitimate few that aren't earning very much, they're either burning their hard-earned savings or selling off valuables to get an iPhone.
When will it end?
I am a Nigerian, and I'm in no way trying to portray Nigeria in a bad light. It's my country, and for the time being, I have no other home than Nigeria. But it's no news that Nigerians haven't earned the best reputation in the international space, and as long as youths are continuously pressured, directly or indirectly, into owning high-end iPhones at the detriment of everything else, they won't stop at the detriment to themselves; they will also extend to you and those you love.
In the end, no matter how the money has been made, youths need to learn how to make smart and intelligent financial choices. Financial decisions for a specific individual should be devoid of external influences and more objective and personalized.
We look forward to the day when the majority of Nigerians can legitimately use iPhones, but for the time being, it feels very wrong!
Image Sources
- Image by Monoar Rahman Rony from Pixabay
- Image by Lukas Gehrer from Pixabay
- Image by Mediamodifier from Pixabay
- Image by Anna from Pixabay
- Image by JALAL SHEIKH from Pixabay