You could buy a 50x100 plot of land here in East Africa

Using that logic literally everything in America is overpriced.

Turns out different places have different costs of living.

Nobody is comparing the cost of an iPhone in the US to the cost of land in East Africa. They're comparing the cost of buying an iPhone in East Africa to land in East Africa.

Different places have different costs of living, and many consumer goods and services adjust to that in different markets. Apple is notorious for setting international price points insanely high relative relative to local price points.

Are apple prices insanely higher compared to other brands offering exactly same product? Not sure about East Africa, but quick check for South Africa shows that Toyota RAV4 (+30%)[1] or PS5 (+23%)[2] prices are adjusted up from the US counterparts.

[1]https://www.cars.co.za/newcars/Toyota/RAV4/

[2]https://cacellular.co.za/product/playstation-5-disc-version-...

Cars and electronics are expensive here. Certain things like food and property are cheaper.

50x100 in what units? There are lots of plots in the US that you can buy for under $1000/acre.

Probably metres.

Same in India, what makes it worse is the taxation. You end up paying $1000+ for the $799 iPhone. And $1000 is a lot of money. You can live a comfortable life in a tier 2 city with $500 a month. PPP adjusted, $1000 in US is around $4000 in India.

In fact, someone proved that it is sometimes cheaper to fly to and back from Dubai and buy a pro model from there than buying it directly in India.