Kids might want an Android phone for another reason than "we're poor". For a while, there were plenty of apps you could get on an Android that you couldn't get on an iPhone. Customization was a big deal back when I was in highschool. All the cool kids had these shitty custom launchers that made their phone borderline unusable if you didn't know how they were setup, but that was the cool thing to do back then.

I'd read it the way it was written. Apple has less expensive phones for people who want them, and honestly most poor families just get their phones through their carrier at a monthly rate, so your assertion isn't really a necessary tactic.