Well that's more than a certain degree
That's a subsidized price. And, I heard some rumors about Apple fighting over that, as well. They didn't want the iPhone to ever be considered "free" (see the argument about the iPad giveaways mentioned earlier), as it tarnishes the value of their name brand.
As long as AT&T was the sole provider of the iPhone, they were under contract with Apple to offer products at their determined prices.
Now that the exclusive contract is up with them, AT&T is free to offer whatever prices they want for the hardware. And Apple has no choice but to embrace it.
Apple's products cannot be compared to any other competitor's products... that's why even if the iphone 4 came out with features that my 10 years old sony ericsson already had, or their "super slim" macbook air came after that other dozens of ultraslim laptop were on the market... consumers still perceive the Apple brand and its products as revolutionary... but IMHO it is due to the operating system in all of their products, the huge app store and to their marketing technique of "the most super extra gigantic ultra never-seen-before product"
Yes, and part of that marketing strategy, as I was trying to explain before, is that the products retain a certain price point in the consumer's mind. Other smartphones go on sale within 30 days of being launched. The Samsung Galaxy S II had a brief sale in which it was free with a contract weeks after being released. The whole "you get what you pay for" mentality works wonders on the general consumer mindset, and that perceived quality is retained by also keeping their resale value high.
Buying a Mac laptop retains its value for longer than a similarly priced PC does. Not because the Mac necessarily lasts longer, but because there is so much competition in the PC market, that used/refurb models drop to nothing very quickly.
The fact that they also market themselves as "revolutionary" is part of it as well, no doubt. It all fits together to make truly extraordinary profits for this company that was in danger of going bankrupt not too long ago.
Also, its not the slick OS, because if that were the case WebOS would still be alive and strong. But HP/Palm failed because although they had an excellent product, they didn't have Apple's marketing and perceived value skills.