Um... my iPhone 8 Plus 256GB was $949. I was stuck with the 256GB, since that's the only one Best Buy had in stock on release day. I highly doubt I'll ever need 256GB, as I've gotten by with only using about 40 GB for the past few years. My Flex Lease payments with Sprint are $41.68, and that was with no money out of pocked at Best Buy (Sprint.com required $100 down for the 256GB model.). The payments on my 7 Plus 128GB were $39.50. As of right now, Sprint is showing I can still do an upgrade on my line while sending in my 8 Plus. No penalty for early upgrade. If that holds true at least until next Friday, I'm going to jump on the X. I may even hold off until 11/3 in hopes that Best Buy has at least one in stock. I may just preorder through Best Buy, as there most likely won't be a need for money down, and I can add AppleCare monthly, instead of paying full price up front. If all goes as planned, I'll get the X 64GB for under $45 per month.
I think the success of the iPhone X will largely depend on a combination of the economy and how many are willing to pay a premium for the latest and greatest. (I list the economy because it determines how many can afford the latest and greatest and have the optimism to go for it).
But, for the rest, essentially the iPhone X has no significant functional difference from the iPhone 8 -- or at least the 8+. That is: you can do everything on an 8 or 8+ that you can do on the X. Really, at least to me, the benefits of the X are: 1) A better screen (OLED) 2) A bigger screen in a smaller package (or some combination of the two depending on what you're comparing it to...)
But that can be a functional difference to some: For instance, I'm a runner who always carries his phone -- but I still want a larger screen. So, the X just might be perfect -- Except! Oh wait! I could just get an AW with LTE and leave the damn phone in my car. (Life is so complicated!)
But, for longer term -- over the next 5-10 years -- my gut is telling me that Apple is in a transition period where they have made the current paradigm about as perfect as possible: The next steps are/will be: 1) Longer battery life 2) More durable screens 3) Adding AI and AR features into the OS and embedded apps (such as Maps). 4) Expanding its footprint by enabling it to connect to and use external keyboards, mice and large screens. So where a business man could, for instance, walk into his office and plug his phone into a dock similar to what he does today with his laptop -- and keep right on working. One computer to rule them all!
I don’t think Apple will ever make 1st party mice and keyboards connect to iPhone. That seems like a step backwards like adding a floppy disc drive or headphone jack.
Really? Since when is adding important functionality a step backwards?
The 1990s called... They want their SCSI Drive back.
Wow, what insight!!! If the iPhone X does well it will drive earnings and stock prices up, if it tanks then it will reduce earnings and drag the stock price down.
My personal prediction is the iPhone X will do OK at $1,000 but will result in a further drop in year-over-year unit sales for fiscal year 2018. Average selling price will be up but revenue will be flat or slightly declining. The "supercycle" growth won't materialize as I think a lot of people waiting for the new design expected it to replace the three-year-old design that came out with the iPhone 6 at approximately the same price point as it has been for years. Giving a rehash of the same old design with a $50 price bump and introducing a luxury model at $1,000 isn't going to appeal to the buyer who has been waiting to upgrade from a 5s or a 6. At that point Apple will be faced with a serious long-term decision. Do they keep their flagship in luxury goods territory and live with the lower sales on higher margins, or do they try and go for growth and have modern designed phones that are price competitive with the Galaxy and Pixel lines.
As far as China goes, Apple has a high percentage of the flagship phone market but it is still a small slice of the overall market. I don't see a lot of people who didn't buy the $650 iPhone 7 suddenly deciding to buy the $1,000 iPhone X. The per capita income isn't there to drive growth in the luxury market. Growth in China will have to start with the $500 phones and eventually work its way up as the overall economy improves for the common person.
A year ago I moved from one of the wealthiest cities on earth (Boca Raton, FL) to one of the poorest countries, per capita, on earth (The Philippines). I’m in a big city here, but even within the wealthy enclaves, one of which I live within, it’s hard to see how the huge upscale malls support all the high-end stores that exist here. Until you realize that on any given day, among the tens of thousands of visitors to one of these mega malls, there are thousands of aspiring poor who might come to the mall from the outskirts and provinces only once a month. But each day it’s a different set of such folks coming through the door. If you believe all in China who might want the latest iPhone are currently holding an iPhone 7, you should see how even an iPhone 5 is coveted here in SE Asia. Like those who make their monthly shopping spree to the high-end malls, there are those who will wait and save for a few years between iPhone upgrades. It’s a longer cycle, but there’s always a subset ready to buy into what is seen here as a significant status symbol. There will be plenty of buyers in China and across SE Asia of the iPhone 8 (lucky number) and the X.
Yes, the cycle has gone on long enough that it will start picking up even the slowest of upgraders. ... Plus, Apple is increasingly offering lower cost but high quality options (such as the iPad Mini and the SE)
I think the success of the iPhone X will largely depend on a combination of the economy and how many are willing to pay a premium for the latest and greatest. (I list the economy because it determines how many can afford the latest and greatest and have the optimism to go for it).
But, for the rest, essentially the iPhone X has no significant functional difference from the iPhone 8 -- or at least the 8+. That is: you can do everything on an 8 or 8+ that you can do on the X. Really, at least to me, the benefits of the X are: 1) A better screen (OLED) 2) A bigger screen in a smaller package (or some combination of the two depending on what you're comparing it to...)
But that can be a functional difference to some: For instance, I'm a runner who always carries his phone -- but I still want a larger screen. So, the X just might be perfect -- Except! Oh wait! I could just get an AW with LTE and leave the damn phone in my car. (Life is so complicated!)
But, for longer term -- over the next 5-10 years -- my gut is telling me that Apple is in a transition period where they have made the current paradigm about as perfect as possible: The next steps are/will be: 1) Longer battery life 2) More durable screens 3) Adding AI and AR features into the OS and embedded apps (such as Maps). 4) Expanding its footprint by enabling it to connect to and use external keyboards, mice and large screens. So where a business man could, for instance, walk into his office and plug his phone into a dock similar to what he does today with his laptop -- and keep right on working. One computer to rule them all!
I don’t think Apple will ever make 1st party mice and keyboards connect to iPhone. That seems like a step backwards like adding a floppy disc drive or headphone jack.
Really? Since when is adding important functionality a step backwards?
The 1990s called... They want their SCSI Drive back.
Sorry but the iPhone X is ugly as hell, that notch is not elegant in the slightest. If SJ was still around it would never have passed the drawing board.
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... Plus, Apple is increasingly offering lower cost but high quality options (such as the iPad Mini and the SE)