Only half of all people being status-driven in their average purchases of visible accessories seems like a very low Bayesian prior to me in general. I think actually the meme is wrong because most people spending money on an Android phone in the US also basing it on a different form of status, kinda like "I don't own a TV" status. Most of the rest are probably making their choice based on pure cost basis (which can go either way based on resell / used market being better on iPhone).

I would believe that only a small fraction of people are making their phone purchase choice on an axis other than status or price (like you).