Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently in an interview with the Time magazine said that the price charged by Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) for its devices should be way lower than what it actually charges if the iPhone maker is actually concerned for the best interest of its customers.
Facebook CEO answers Tim Cook
This statement by Mark can upset many at Apple, but the young CEO knows how to justify it. The magazine will soon come up with an issue on the December 15th that will have this interview where the CEO of Facebook has said, “A frustration I have is that a lot of people increasingly seem to equate an advertising business model with somehow being out of alignment with your customers.”
Facebook CEO said that people think that they are in alignment with the company and hence are ready to pay huge amount for their products. But Mark finds this concept ridiculous and says that people don’t understand the fact that Apple should offer its products for a lower price if the buyers were in alignment with the company.
Zuckerberg’s comments are in response to the open letter from Cook three month back, where he openly criticize free online services.
Cook slammed internet firms in an open letter
In the letter, Cook criticized its competitors saying that the services that claim to be free of cost actually turn the customers into products by selling them ads. Without specifying any names he made his point clear, and let to interpretations that the companies he was talking about could be Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB).
Apple CEO emphasized on the business model of his company, and said that it focuses on building amazing products with superior user experience. He targeted the rivals saying that Apple does not use the email content or web browsing habits of its users to build the profile of its customers and then sell it to advertisers. He further stated that the information stored on the iPhone and iCloud is of confidential nature, and hence is not monetized by the company. He further said that they do not read the emails or messages of their users to gain information for marketing goods and services to them.
Using the customer as a product and selling it to advertisers is a concept capitalized on by startups like Ello, which is popularly known as anti-Facebook, and tells users that on Ello, “You are not a product.”
