I’m well aware of apple’s strategy and I myself am typing this on an iPhone 13 mini I bought refurbished.

However, for public perception of a brand as being expensive, used/refurbished models don’t really count. The cheapest phone Apple currently sells new (16e) is about 600€; 700€ directly from Apple. That’s not a cheap phone.
Samsung, as one of the most expensive android brands, still sells a variety of phones well below that, as low as 80€ for a brand new phone.

That obviously skews the perception towards Samsung being more affordable than Apple. Which they are. I cannot possibly get a new iPhone at 80€ or even a decent refurbished one.

But of course that still doesn’t mean iPhones are overpriced. You usually get what you pay for and similar devices by other manufacturers are usually just as expensive.