Apple is trying to address all price with referbs and retreads.
A new iPhone 6s is $449.99 at Sprint. A pre-owned IPhone 7 is $288
The cheapest modern IPhone the XR is $749.99
The biggest problem is no one knows how long older iPhones like the 6s are going to be supported. I would hope any new iPhone would have OS updates for 4 years. For me, I buy an iPhone for the updates so that I know security issues will get patched. I don’t trust Android to do the same.
If you are at the low end and are looking to replace a dead Android, you can get a more powerful Andriod vs. a comparably priced iPhone. Whoknowswhichphonewillbesupportedlonger...
I’m a little confused by this portion of your statement (in bold). Since we obviously can’t look into the future, we have to look at the past and when you do it becomes apparent that the iPhone would be supported longer. The easiest piece of evidence on the iphone front is the continued support for the 5s! But you already addressed that when you said why you buy iPhones. We would then have to look at android and to see which models are still supported... but I think your two of your statements below shed light on the realities of the situation.
I don’t trust Andriod to do the same.
If Huawei guaranteed timely Andriod OS updates for 4 years I’d certainly consider one...
On a separate note, I do agree with Dan that Apple is in the best situation to weather the storm should these trends continue for the next 5 years or longer. They have money in the bank and their phones will last as long as people need them to last. If I was someone who last purchased a 5s and it finally dies on me next year and I need to upgrade on a budget, I would have no problem looking to a refurbished 8 to get me through the next 3 years. I am unaware of any andriod manufacturer that can guarantee the same.
Apple is trying to address all price with referbs and retreads.
A new iPhone 6s is $449.99 at Sprint. A pre-owned IPhone 7 is $288
The cheapest modern IPhone the XR is $749.99
The biggest problem is no one knows how long older iPhones like the 6s are going to be supported. I would hope any new iPhone would have OS updates for 4 years. For me, I buy an iPhone for the updates so that I know security issues will get patched. I don’t trust Android to do the same.
If you are at the low end and are looking to replace a dead Android, you can get a more powerful Andriod vs. a comparably priced iPhone. Whoknowswhichphonewillbesupportedlonger...
I don’t trust Andriod to do the same.
If Huawei guaranteed timely Andriod OS updates for 4 years I’d certainly consider one...
If I was someone who last purchased a 5s and it finally dies on me next year and I need to upgrade on a budget, I would have no problem looking to a refurbished 8 to get me through the next 3 years. I am unaware of any andriod manufacturer that can guarantee the same.
Certified Refurbished iPhones only carry a one year guarantee (warranty) rather than three. Yes that's still better than most (not all) refurbished phones from other OEM's that are typically 90-days after purchase.
I agree with Cmka~+ in that price is never an issue with Apple products but everything, including an iPhone, has their point of diminishing return. While to this day, I've felt my iPhone 1 to iPhone 8+ is the greatest piece of technology I've ever owned, I cannot justify the price of a newer one...the innovations are just not as appealing as larger size, TouchID, super camera, Siri, and other features were to impel me to purchase.
To be honest, I'd rather have TouchID than FaceID, I feel my 8+ camera is as good as I need, and the screen clarity & size meet my needs. Maybe XRS or XI will bring something more robust, but for now, I don't mind waiting as I'm as satisfied as I've ever been with my iPhone.
The specific problem with the "iPhones are too expensive" story, however, is Apple didn't really raise the price of iPhones. It expanded iPhone pricing in both directions, creating the least expensive models and the most expensive models it has ever offered. It has been Apple's customers that have pushed the Average Selling Prices of iPhones up by choosing to buy more expensive models.
hmmm. Not sure I agree with that. While it might be true that there is a wide range of phones and prices, it is misleading. Just because they are still selling the iPhone 7 and once again the iPhone SE, that hardly wins your argument. I suppose if they brought back the iPhone 5s you could claim Apple phones are selling at the lowest prices ever.
Just because there are a few dumb kids in class that bring the curve down, it doesn't mean the smartest kids don't still lose their milk money.
Nonsense. A friend of mine just switched from android knockoffs and bought a brand new iPhone 7, based on the price. He doesn’t need the top-tier offerings. What’s hard to understand about that? It’s a range now. Do you need a Mac Pro?
I read these things because I like to see just how far websites will go in cherry picking and then twisting data.
The fact is, Apple and Samsung have miscalculated the price customers are willing to pay.
Sure, there are always loyal consumers who will gulp hard and plunk their cash down.
But, that is no way to grow, only to wait for something to come along and upend your cash cow.
For Samsung, I'm sure they would rather make money off the mobile sector. But they have other sources of income as a company.
Apple? Not so much.
You know, the thing keeping a lot of people I know on an iPhone isn't privacy, etc. It's the Watch.
Never let the Watch be a standalone or compatible with Android device.
Oh what rubbish - far more customers buy iphones than Watches.
The X outsold the 8 despite being more expensive and no home button. Outsold it every single month it was out. Your preferred world view is at odds with reality, son. Sorry.
The Analysts are right the iPhone are way too expensive now these days. It’s funny how people’s are trying to defend a company that’s is now very greedy. In 2007 iPhone prices at beginning wasn’t that much expensive but 12 years later almost the price have more than doubled. How do we explain that easy ??? Very easy just by seeing how much cost an iPhone cost to do now and how much profit gross Apple makes on it. In a lots of markets like India and China to just name those the salaries are way too low to afford Apple products so as a country like the USA and Canada yes it’s true salaries are higher but everything is expensive now these days so from my point of view bringing down the prices worldwide would help Apple penetrate markets that Chinese companies have already penetrated. And as far as the damn Dollars conversations well you know when you à have a clown running a country it’s affected the world economy so let alone 2020 : Make the world economy great Again
So you're trying to say they're not expensive enough, Dan? Also remember phones aren't 70% of Samsung's revenue, the iPhone is 70% of Apple's revenue - more if you include iPhone related services. Why would Cook admit their phones are too expensive? He'd have to lower the prices if he did so. And why have there been aggressive pushes with trade-ins right on Apple's homepage? Some of your articles are good Dan, but your attempts to denigrate everything that isn't 100% pro-Apple is unprofessional and tiring. I used to like reading your articles, but recently you've had your head way too far up Apple's ass.
Absolutely no need to get nasty.
What have I said that's nasty?
In your world saying the writer has his head shoved up Apple’s ass isn’t nasty? What are you, 18?
Apple supposedly all about services lately, but I don’t use any of them do to arbitrary limits. I can watch anything I damn please using my Amazon App on my iPad.
How do you watch, say, House of Cards in your Amazon app?
Regardless, you’re using an iPad so that’s an Apple win. But if you’re not spending the buck a month on their cloud storage you’re missing out.
Apple is trying to address all price with referbs and retreads.
A new iPhone 6s is $449.99 at Sprint. A pre-owned IPhone 7 is $288
The cheapest modern IPhone the XR is $749.99
The biggest problem is no one knows how long older iPhones like the 6s are going to be supported. I would hope any new iPhone would have OS updates for 4 years. For me, I buy an iPhone for the updates so that I know security issues will get patched. I don’t trust Android to do the same.
If you are at the low end and are looking to replace a dead Android, you can get a more powerful Andriod vs. a comparably priced iPhone. Whoknowswhichphonewillbesupportedlonger...
I don’t trust Andriod to do the same.
If Huawei guaranteed timely Andriod OS updates for 4 years I’d certainly consider one...
If I was someone who last purchased a 5s and it finally dies on me next year and I need to upgrade on a budget, I would have no problem looking to a refurbished 8 to get me through the next 3 years. I am unaware of any andriod manufacturer that can guarantee the same.
Certified Refurbished iPhones only carry a one year guarantee (warranty) rather than three. Yes that's still better than most (not all) refurbished phones from other OEM's that are typically 90-days after purchase.
And? Most brand-new products in the US only have a one year warranty, iphones included.
Apple is trying to address all price with referbs and retreads.
A new iPhone 6s is $449.99 at Sprint. A pre-owned IPhone 7 is $288
The cheapest modern IPhone the XR is $749.99
The biggest problem is no one knows how long older iPhones like the 6s are going to be supported. I would hope any new iPhone would have OS updates for 4 years. For me, I buy an iPhone for the updates so that I know security issues will get patched. I don’t trust Android to do the same.
If you are at the low end and are looking to replace a dead Android, you can get a more powerful Andriod vs. a comparably priced iPhone. Whoknowswhichphonewillbesupportedlonger...
I don’t trust Andriod to do the same.
If Huawei guaranteed timely Andriod OS updates for 4 years I’d certainly consider one...
If I was someone who last purchased a 5s and it finally dies on me next year and I need to upgrade on a budget, I would have no problem looking to a refurbished 8 to get me through the next 3 years. I am unaware of any andriod manufacturer that can guarantee the same.
Certified Refurbished iPhones only carry a one year guarantee (warranty) rather than three. Yes that's still better than most (not all) refurbished phones from other OEM's that are typically 90-days after purchase.
And? Most brand-new products in the US only have a one year warranty, iphones included.
The point? Read what the OP said. He apparently thought that refurbished iPhones were warranted for three years.
You're on a roll this week. Why don't you slow down and read the posts I respond to before taking issue with what I say.
The Analysts are right the iPhone are way too expensive now these days. It’s funny how people’s are trying to defend a company that’s is now very greedy. In 2007 iPhone prices at beginning wasn’t that much expensive but 12 years later almost the price have more than doubled. How do we explain that easy ???
In 2007 the iPhone was $499/$599 with carrier subsidy, and requiring a two-year contract to pay back the subsidy.
Since then, advancements in tech have produced and delivered a vastly improved product in every way. Subsidies have also been removed, revealing the actual cost to consumers.
Apple is trying to address all price with referbs and retreads.
A new iPhone 6s is $449.99 at Sprint. A pre-owned IPhone 7 is $288
The cheapest modern IPhone the XR is $749.99
The biggest problem is no one knows how long older iPhones like the 6s are going to be supported. I would hope any new iPhone would have OS updates for 4 years. For me, I buy an iPhone for the updates so that I know security issues will get patched. I don’t trust Android to do the same.
If you are at the low end and are looking to replace a dead Android, you can get a more powerful Andriod vs. a comparably priced iPhone. Whoknowswhichphonewillbesupportedlonger...
I don’t trust Andriod to do the same.
If Huawei guaranteed timely Andriod OS updates for 4 years I’d certainly consider one...
If I was someone who last purchased a 5s and it finally dies on me next year and I need to upgrade on a budget, I would have no problem looking to a refurbished 8 to get me through the next 3 years. I am unaware of any andriod manufacturer that can guarantee the same.
Certified Refurbished iPhones only carry a one year guarantee (warranty) rather than three. Yes that's still better than most (not all) refurbished phones from other OEM's that are typically 90-days after purchase.
And? Most brand-new products in the US only have a one year warranty, iphones included.
The point? Read what the OP said. He apparently thought that refurbished iPhones were warranted for three years. You're on a roll this week.
Are you joking? Where did he say he was looking for a three-year hardware warranty? Try reading the posts you’re replying to — they’re discussing OS support.
“ I would hope any new iPhone would have OS updates for 4 years. For me, I buy an iPhone for the updates so that I know security issues will get patched. I don’t trust Android to do the same.”
“If Huawei guaranteed timely Andriod OS updates for 4 years I’d certainly consider one...”
...in this context “support” is clearly OS supported life span. Everyone knows iOS is supported longer than your crappy knockoffs. Even google’s flagships have dropped support quicker than iOS. Pathetic.
People in China simply do not need to pay what Apple is charging for an iPhone. They don't need iPhones at all if they're only going to be using WeChat. A $200 Android smartphone is all they need to accomplish whatever they want as long as they're using WeChat. WeChat does practically everything.
Almost no consumer in India can afford even the cheapest model iPhone and that's why Apple has about 1% smartphone market share in India. A $200 Android smartphone should be more than good enough for any consumer living at the poverty-class level.
Basically, Apple has priced itself out of two of the largest smartphone markets and now has no way of recovering market share percentage.
Apple needs to stop depending upon iPhone unit sales and should find some other business(es) to increase overall revenue. I don't know why Apple ignored getting a cloud business like most of the other major tech companies acquired. The cloud business is considered a long-term growth business.
Apple should have easily seen how their iPhone business was a dead-end, no growth business, especially with only the poorest countries left to do business with. How can Apple possibly sell $1000 iPhones to people with extremely low yearly salaries?
I just don't know what Apple was thinking when it keeps raising iPhone prices every year. There's no way Apple can stay competitive in such a mature market. There's almost nothing Apple can do to make an iPhone stand out in value to such a high degree.
I don't know if iPhones are "too" expensive. I only know that consumers seemed to have stopped buying them in the quantities they once did. That's likely the end result of Apple's price-jacking strategy.
Although I'm a long-term Apple shareholder, I don't think Apple should have to charge so much for iPhones if consumers aren't going to buy them.
Trying to sell more iPhones seems like a poor strategy for Apple to pursue. The smartphone market is done for Apple. Apple has to look elsewhere for maintaining or increasing revenue. It's hard to believe Apple was once a trillion-dollar company. The fall was so quick. I don't know how Apple could have been so short-sighted.
From a consumer point of view I think when apple has been at its best, it has brought a class of product with a level of functionality, reliability, fit, and finish, that couldn't be gotten elsewhere at any price. The original iPods and early iPhones were clear examples of this. When they came out they were an order of magnitude more expensive than alternative products, and orders of magnitude better (think $50 CD player or fully subsidized flip phone).
...
But the fit-and-finish (or joy-spark) premium has its limits.
While I still prefer apple designs, competitors are closing the fit and finish gap, and while the processors in the current iPhones are quite arguably the best in class, the value added proposition of feature set in the high end models doesn't set apple apart in the way that it used to....
The value proposition Apple makes isn't just its design, fit-and-finish, or even processor speed. It is, increasingly, the integration between devices. There is no other competitor who has the breadth of widgets - from TV streamer to speaker to watch to smartphone to headphone to laptop to desktop....to music & video services - all integrated seamlessly, out of the box. And people, increasingly, notice & value this convenience.
I would argue that the iPhone X sold so well despite its obnoxious price because all other iPhones on sale were no longer compelling, and the design language was getting stale. I, for one, bought one, telling myself that I would keep it for two years instead of upgrading every year as I had done previously. I still yearn, however, for a slightly smaller phone, one that is more pocketable, and one that returns to the old pricing of 599/649/699 that we were used to over the years. The iPhone X's price was supposed to be the exception to the rule, not the norm.
I also disagree with the statement that Apple has expanded in both directions price wise, as discontinuing the iPhone SE meant losing a very compelling price point for a very compelling phone. Offering it for a couple of days at heavy discount and having it immediately sell out shows that there is a market for quality, smaller phones, and lower price points.
Apple is trying to address all price with referbs and retreads.
A new iPhone 6s is $449.99 at Sprint. A pre-owned IPhone 7 is $288
The cheapest modern IPhone the XR is $749.99
The biggest problem is no one knows how long older iPhones like the 6s are going to be supported. I would hope any new iPhone would have OS updates for 4 years. For me, I buy an iPhone for the updates so that I know security issues will get patched. I don’t trust Android to do the same.
If you are at the low end and are looking to replace a dead Android, you can get a more powerful Andriod vs. a comparably priced iPhone. Whoknowswhichphonewillbesupportedlonger...
I don’t trust Andriod to do the same.
If Huawei guaranteed timely Andriod OS updates for 4 years I’d certainly consider one...
If I was someone who last purchased a 5s and it finally dies on me next year and I need to upgrade on a budget, I would have no problem looking to a refurbished 8 to get me through the next 3 years. I am unaware of any andriod manufacturer that can guarantee the same.
Certified Refurbished iPhones only carry a one year guarantee (warranty) rather than three. Yes that's still better than most (not all) refurbished phones from other OEM's that are typically 90-days after purchase.
And? Most brand-new products in the US only have a one year warranty, iphones included.
The point? Read what the OP said. He apparently thought that refurbished iPhones were warranted for three years. You're on a roll this week.
Are you joking? Where did he say he was looking for a three-year hardware warranty? Try reading the posts you’re replying to — they’re discussing OS support.
“ I would hope any new iPhone would have OS updates for 4 years. For me, I buy an iPhone for the updates so that I know security issues will get patched. I don’t trust Android to do the same.”
“If Huawei guaranteed timely Andriod OS updates for 4 years I’d certainly consider one...”
...in this context “support” is clearly OS supported life span. Everyone knows iOS is supported longer than your crappy knockoffs. Even google’s flagships have dropped support quicker than iOS. Pathetic.
If he's looking for three years of SUPPORT guaranteed then the Pixels are the only Android devices that qualify AFAIK. For isntance my used OG Pixel shipped with Android 7.1 (Nougat). Since then it's been updated to Oreo and now Pie. Not likely to get the next major update this coming fall but it could.
Regarding Apple I'm not aware they've guaranteed any particular number of updates and maybe you know where to find that. Obviously tho Apple has traditionally (not always) supported at least 4 years. Kudos due.
And my apologies to you. I did not read his comment as meaning OS updates guaranteed (and not certain they are) but instead device warranty. I had to read it again, but now I get what he meant. Again apologies Strangedays. Now I understand why you were asking what you did.
I usually enjoy Appleinsider articles, but this is a piece of deluded fanboi-ism.
I have been an Apple user for maybe 10 years. I came from Windows like many people and really grew to appreciate the value of Apple's build quality, reliability and customer service. I really used to think that you got value for money. Sure there was an 'Apple tax' but in the bigger picture, just like a premium watch or a car, I felt that the extra cost was worth it. I still use a 2008 Mac pro every day. It was worth every penny.
The last Apple device I bought was my iPhone 7 around 2 years ago. It was the most expensive iPhone I have ever bought at just under GBP600. This was a bit of a mistake, because I had been looking at US prices, and was expecting to pay GBP500!
Nevertheless it was a good buy. I held off buying a new phone because prices had kept going up and I didn't need to spend all that money for the functionality. I bought the phone because I dropped my iPhone 5.
Since i bought the iphone 7, prices have skyrocketed. It's not just the iphone. The MacBook Pro has increased in price significantly, and then we had the ridiculous Homepod. An absurd device that didn't even do what an Echo did, except it was 3 times the price but had much, much better sound quality. Who cares about this stuff? Rich people.
Siri has been a joke since it was released. it has evolved and is much better than it was, but Alexa has been more reliable, works with more stuff, my Echo Dot costs a fraction of the Homepod - even with a decent bluetooth speaker.
Apple has lost the plot. It has forgotten what it is about and who it builds for. It's becoming even more of a niche manufacturer than it was. An iPhone that costs as much as a macBook? Are they serious? Who the hell wants or needs animated emoji based on facial recognition? When Chinese manufacturers such as Huawei and OnePlus can deliver over 80% of the functionality for 50% of the price, potential customers have to have a damned good reason to buy Apple. When some of these phones have cameras that for the vast majority of people are just as good as those on an iPhone, you really have to wonder.
I am a middle-aged professional and a happy Apple customer. My income level is fairly high for where I live. I'm not rich, but I'm comfortable. I don't have to worry about money, however I simply will not pay for a new iPhone at anything like their current prices. My daughter works in the City of London and earns a lot more than me. She will not pay for a new iphone either. A month ago she bought a brand new iphone 7 on ebay for GBP300.
In which universe do Apple think that ordinary consumers will pay GBP1000 for a phone?! It seems I'm not the only one questioning the price. Apple is now a rich person's brand.
The article is basically an attempt to defend the indefensible. Apple is driving prices up.
For anyone that thinks price isn't an issue - consider that you now have to pay more than the cost of good laptop - for a phone. My next phone will be a new iPhone X, from eBay for no more than GBP450. I can afford to, but am not prepared to pay a ridiculous price every month for a new phone, and I'm not prepared to spend laptop money on one.
These devices have a fixed value for me, and a fixed price point. Looks like I'm not the one person who feels the same. Either prices drop, or Apple will lose a lot of sales.
Most worryingly, I'm looking at abandoning Apple altogether, because I don't want to view myself, or be viewed as - a person who wastes money on toys for rich people.
People in China simply do not need to pay what Apple is charging for an iPhone. They don't need iPhones at all if they're only going to be using WeChat. A $200 Android smartphone is all they need to accomplish whatever they want as long as they're using WeChat. WeChat does practically everything.
Almost no consumer in India can afford even the cheapest model iPhone and that's why Apple has about 1% smartphone market share in India. A $200 Android smartphone should be more than good enough for any consumer living at the poverty-class level.
Basically, Apple has priced itself out of two of the largest smartphone markets and now has no way of recovering market share percentage.
Apple needs to stop depending upon iPhone unit sales and should find some other business(es) to increase overall revenue. I don't know why Apple ignored getting a cloud business like most of the other major tech companies acquired. The cloud business is considered a long-term growth business.
Apple should have easily seen how their iPhone business was a dead-end, no growth business, especially with only the poorest countries left to do business with. How can Apple possibly sell $1000 iPhones to people with extremely low yearly salaries?
I just don't know what Apple was thinking when it keeps raising iPhone prices every year. There's no way Apple can stay competitive in such a mature market. There's almost nothing Apple can do to make an iPhone stand out in value to such a high degree.
I don't know if iPhones are "too" expensive. I only know that consumers seemed to have stopped buying them in the quantities they once did. That's likely the end result of Apple's price-jacking strategy.
Although I'm a long-term Apple shareholder, I don't think Apple should have to charge so much for iPhones if consumers aren't going to buy them.
Trying to sell more iPhones seems like a poor strategy for Apple to pursue. The smartphone market is done for Apple. Apple has to look elsewhere for maintaining or increasing revenue. It's hard to believe Apple was once a trillion-dollar company. The fall was so quick. I don't know how Apple could have been so short-sighted.
The cloud is soo boring and not at all someting Apple is good at. Growth is really laughable when a company makes a 1000 billion in profit in 10 years time.
Comments
On a separate note, I do agree with Dan that Apple is in the best situation to weather the storm should these trends continue for the next 5 years or longer. They have money in the bank and their phones will last as long as people need them to last. If I was someone who last purchased a 5s and it finally dies on me next year and I need to upgrade on a budget, I would have no problem looking to a refurbished 8 to get me through the next 3 years. I am unaware of any andriod manufacturer that can guarantee the same.
To be honest, I'd rather have TouchID than FaceID, I feel my 8+ camera is as good as I need, and the screen clarity & size meet my needs. Maybe XRS or XI will bring something more robust, but for now, I don't mind waiting as I'm as satisfied as I've ever been with my iPhone.
Oh what rubbish - far more customers buy iphones than Watches.
The X outsold the 8 despite being more expensive and no home button. Outsold it every single month it was out. Your preferred world view is at odds with reality, son. Sorry.
Very easy just by seeing how much cost an iPhone cost to do now and how much profit gross Apple makes on it. In a lots of markets like India and China to just name those
the salaries are way too low to afford Apple products so as a country like the USA and Canada yes it’s true salaries are higher but everything is expensive now these days so from my point of view bringing down the prices worldwide would help Apple penetrate markets that Chinese companies have already penetrated. And as far as the damn Dollars conversations well you know when you à have a clown running a country it’s affected the world economy so let alone 2020 : Make the world economy great Again
In your world saying the writer has his head shoved up Apple’s ass isn’t nasty? What are you, 18?
How do you watch, say, House of Cards in your Amazon app?
Regardless, you’re using an iPad so that’s an Apple win. But if you’re not spending the buck a month on their cloud storage you’re missing out.
You're on a roll this week. Why don't you slow down and read the posts I respond to before taking issue with what I say.
Since then, advancements in tech have produced and delivered a vastly improved product in every way. Subsidies have also been removed, revealing the actual cost to consumers.
“ I would hope any new iPhone would have OS updates for 4 years. For me, I buy an iPhone for the updates so that I know security issues will get patched. I don’t trust Android to do the same.”
“If Huawei guaranteed timely Andriod OS updates for 4 years I’d certainly consider one...”
...in this context “support” is clearly OS supported life span. Everyone knows iOS is supported longer than your crappy knockoffs. Even google’s flagships have dropped support quicker than iOS. Pathetic.
Basically, Apple has priced itself out of two of the largest smartphone markets and now has no way of recovering market share percentage. Apple needs to stop depending upon iPhone unit sales and should find some other business(es) to increase overall revenue. I don't know why Apple ignored getting a cloud business like most of the other major tech companies acquired. The cloud business is considered a long-term growth business.
Apple should have easily seen how their iPhone business was a dead-end, no growth business, especially with only the poorest countries left to do business with. How can Apple possibly sell $1000 iPhones to people with extremely low yearly salaries? I just don't know what Apple was thinking when it keeps raising iPhone prices every year. There's no way Apple can stay competitive in such a mature market. There's almost nothing Apple can do to make an iPhone stand out in value to such a high degree.
I don't know if iPhones are "too" expensive. I only know that consumers seemed to have stopped buying them in the quantities they once did. That's likely the end result of Apple's price-jacking strategy. Although I'm a long-term Apple shareholder, I don't think Apple should have to charge so much for iPhones if consumers aren't going to buy them.
Trying to sell more iPhones seems like a poor strategy for Apple to pursue. The smartphone market is done for Apple. Apple has to look elsewhere for maintaining or increasing revenue. It's hard to believe Apple was once a trillion-dollar company. The fall was so quick. I don't know how Apple could have been so short-sighted.
The value proposition Apple makes isn't just its design, fit-and-finish, or even processor speed. It is, increasingly, the integration between devices. There is no other competitor who has the breadth of widgets - from TV streamer to speaker to watch to smartphone to headphone to laptop to desktop....to music & video services - all integrated seamlessly, out of the box. And people, increasingly, notice & value this convenience.
I also disagree with the statement that Apple has expanded in both directions price wise, as discontinuing the iPhone SE meant losing a very compelling price point for a very compelling phone. Offering it for a couple of days at heavy discount and having it immediately sell out shows that there is a market for quality, smaller phones, and lower price points.
Regarding Apple I'm not aware they've guaranteed any particular number of updates and maybe you know where to find that. Obviously tho Apple has traditionally (not always) supported at least 4 years. Kudos due.
And my apologies to you. I did not read his comment as meaning OS updates guaranteed (and not certain they are) but instead device warranty. I had to read it again, but now I get what he meant. Again apologies Strangedays. Now I understand why you were asking what you did.
I have been an Apple user for maybe 10 years. I came from Windows like many people and really grew to appreciate the value of Apple's build quality, reliability and customer service. I really used to think that you got value for money. Sure there was an 'Apple tax' but in the bigger picture, just like a premium watch or a car, I felt that the extra cost was worth it. I still use a 2008 Mac pro every day. It was worth every penny.
The last Apple device I bought was my iPhone 7 around 2 years ago. It was the most expensive iPhone I have ever bought at just under GBP600. This was a bit of a mistake, because I had been looking at US prices, and was expecting to pay GBP500!
Nevertheless it was a good buy. I held off buying a new phone because prices had kept going up and I didn't need to spend all that money for the functionality. I bought the phone because I dropped my iPhone 5.
Since i bought the iphone 7, prices have skyrocketed. It's not just the iphone. The MacBook Pro has increased in price significantly, and then we had the ridiculous Homepod.
An absurd device that didn't even do what an Echo did, except it was 3 times the price but had much, much better sound quality. Who cares about this stuff? Rich people.
Siri has been a joke since it was released. it has evolved and is much better than it was, but Alexa has been more reliable, works with more stuff, my Echo Dot costs a fraction of the Homepod - even with a decent bluetooth speaker.
Apple has lost the plot. It has forgotten what it is about and who it builds for. It's becoming even more of a niche manufacturer than it was. An iPhone that costs as much as a macBook? Are they serious? Who the hell wants or needs animated emoji based on facial recognition? When Chinese manufacturers such as Huawei and OnePlus can deliver over 80% of the functionality for 50% of the price, potential customers have to have a damned good reason to buy Apple. When some of these phones have cameras that for the vast majority of people are just as good as those on an iPhone, you really have to wonder.
I am a middle-aged professional and a happy Apple customer. My income level is fairly high for where I live. I'm not rich, but I'm comfortable. I don't have to worry about money, however I simply will not pay for a new iPhone at anything like their current prices. My daughter works in the City of London and earns a lot more than me. She will not pay for a new iphone either. A month ago she bought a brand new iphone 7 on ebay for GBP300.
In which universe do Apple think that ordinary consumers will pay GBP1000 for a phone?! It seems I'm not the only one questioning the price. Apple is now a rich person's brand.
The article is basically an attempt to defend the indefensible. Apple is driving prices up.
For anyone that thinks price isn't an issue - consider that you now have to pay more than the cost of good laptop - for a phone. My next phone will be a new iPhone X, from eBay for no more than GBP450. I can afford to, but am not prepared to pay a ridiculous price every month for a new phone, and I'm not prepared to spend laptop money on one.
These devices have a fixed value for me, and a fixed price point. Looks like I'm not the one person who feels the same. Either prices drop, or Apple will lose a lot of sales.
Most worryingly, I'm looking at abandoning Apple altogether, because I don't want to view myself, or be viewed as - a person who wastes money on toys for rich people.
Growth is really laughable when a company makes a 1000 billion in profit in 10 years time.