How about "market saturation" as being a cause of alleged low demand? Not everybody wants to update right now. they are fine with what they have. Why do we need a new phone or phones every year, not just from Apple but others? answer = Wall Street. That said, as one of the allegedly very few iPhone 8 users, I just want to say the wireless charging coolness and convenience alone is one great reason to get it. I"m not sold on that notch in the screen on the X. I also like the "dated" look of the iPhone 8 ... why? because everyone knows it's an iPhone just by looking at it. the new X model blends right in with the "other" choices in smartphones by "other" companies, not thrilled with that and only having a black bezel option, like all those "other" phones. Also, just a heads up, I guess the X will have this "issue" too... the glass back is really nice and great to hold onto but be warned - the phone easily slides off things on it's own if it is not in a case and it is placed on an angle on something.
I was never convinced the iPhone 8 was a good idea. I think Apple should have gone full power iPhone X.
Iphone 8 is a great phone - but no point. It reminds me a bit of the iPhone 5C.
Fingers crossed the upcoming quarterly conference call will bring good news regarding IPhone X production over Xmas.
Well, the big picture is still the elephant in the room: what is Apple doing to win over China consumer? Would Apple be able to thrive even more if they lose China market?
The whole computer-in-your pocket/phone/iPod thing is just becoming passé for me. I use mine all the time every damn day, but I no longer get excited by new phones or their features. I'll buy whatever iPhone there is out there at the time I decide I need a new one. Nice thing about the iPhone (and every other Apple product), you get a long life from them.
I think the X is killing the 8. Not necessarily because of demand for the X.
This point is something I tend to agree with. While I fully understand that the supply for the X is low and the cost is high (because of constraints with components allegedly and most likely) I do believe the the general Apple lineup is being spread too thin in a fashion similar to the time of Apple where Steve wasn't there.While some would say that choice is good, others find that too much choice leads to buyer indecision which can prevent a sale altogether (since the buyer feels like he is missing out either way).
But hey what do I know? It's just the impression I'm getting but I am sure Tim knows what he is doing.
I think you are absolutely right. I’m a borderline fanboy, but mostly I try to look at the big picture value of the hardware/OS, total cost of ownership, quality ect. I’ve been a long time Apple supporter/apologist but the love is fading.
I’m using an iPhone 6 and have skipped the 6s,7 due to the cost per useful feature addition equation not being value for money for me.
So mostly a logical purchasing process. Saying that, the iPhone 8 is a good phone but not cheap. I just don’t want to pay that much for a second tier phone. I’m just not excited enough. The irrational part of me wants the best iPhone these is. The iPhone 10 has me excited!
Do I want an iPhone X? Absolutely!
But, in Australia, the X is $1244USD for 64gb $1440USD for 256gb!
Instead of a respectful relationship between manufacturer/consumer like “Hey your stuff is pricey, but I see the value, I’ll pay it”
For me personally, Apple has become like a hot entitled girl with a contemptuous attitude, more like “ Watch this, I’ll knee them in the balls, by raising the price to ludicrous levels, bitch slap them and they are still gunna buy it!”
Sorry Apple, you lost an iPhone 8 and an IPhone X sale here.
I think Apple is pushing themselves back into the super luxury realm again like back in the bad old days. Sure they can screw more out less people, but eventually it’s going to reduce the market share critical mass back to unsustainable levels.
I would like sales to fall flat, proving that Apple his hit a price point where a lot of existing customers just say, “nope, I think I won’t bother upgrading”.
That said, I will pick up an X to try out the new features but I’m not sure about keeping it as it’s the same narrow display at the non plus models.
lol ,keep on thinking that. Please do not buy it. I would love to buy at 5 at launch date!
You're in luck irnchriz, I won't be buying an X either. You can have mine too!!
I would like sales to fall flat, proving that Apple his hit a price point where a lot of existing customers just say, “nope, I think I won’t bother upgrading”.
That said, I will pick up an X to try out the new features but I’m not sure about keeping it as it’s the same narrow display at the non plus models.
lol ,keep on thinking that. Please do not buy it. I would love to buy at 5 at launch date!
make it 6 since I won't be buying one.
Subtract one from the 6, down to 5, I’m buying one
I have no idea what the sales have been, but I suspect the iPhone 8 sales have been hit by a bit of a double whammy. First, Apple introduced it alongside the X, which will be the 'must have' phone for people who want the latest and greatest. For those who don't want the latest and greatest, the 8 is really only offering incremental improvements over the past 2 generations.
When I think about what I would get with an 8 over my 6s: - Wireless charging (neat, but I won't use it,) - A somewhat better camera (may be nice, but I'm happy with the 6s camera and not willing to pay for a new phone to get it,) - Waterproofing (haven't needed it so far,) - A faster processor (the 6s is working fine for me, so I don't really need that either)
On the down side, I would loose the headphone jack which I use on a very regular basis.
So there's really no incentive for me to pay $700+ to get a new phone that looks just like the one I have now and has features I don't particularly need. I suspect many people are in the same boat.
This should indicate that demand for the X is huge, not that sales are slow.
The anecdotal evidence suggests that is true. I got an iPhone 8 (to replace a 6s) but the other folks in my office are ALL waiting for iPhone X. My wife has a 6+ that's due to be replaced and she only wants the X. I think when a lot of people finally have to make a choice, some will go for the smaller price and take the 8. It is a great phone.
So what was the point of the 8 exactly? Seems people are either waiting for the X or buying something cheaper.
I think the point of the 8's are that Apple, with the X are completely redefining where they want to take their phone, the SoC's have been gradually getting ridiculously powerful and I do not believe that was merely to open apps a fraction of a second faster, I believe that they have been gearing up the past few years to build engines that are powerful enough to run the neural net algorithms that will power the next generation of applications.
So, they cannot just go from the old phones to the new phones. Therefore these generation 8 phones are the bridge. People who are a bit frightened of the X with it's face ID and sheer unfamiliarity can relax with the 8's, knowing they still have just as powerful hardware and a familiar Touch ID. I tend to think that these's 8's are the end of this species of phone. It's a gamble that Apple have to take, even if it causes a short term hiccup. They may have lost a little ground while passing the baton, but once passed their fastest runner will leave everyone else eating dust.
I would like sales to fall flat, proving that Apple his hit a price point where a lot of existing customers just say, “nope, I think I won’t bother upgrading”.
That said, I will pick up an X to try out the new features but I’m not sure about keeping it as it’s the same narrow display at the non plus models.
Why would you "like sales to fall flat"?
If this point hasn't been made abundantly clear over the long life of Apple, their products aren't made for the price sensitive. They are aspirational and appeal to people because of their style, sense of design and (hopefully) well-thought out user experience.
He probably wants sales to fall flat for the same reason that I want Lamborghini sales to fall flat: I can’t afford one, but would quite like to be seen driving one.
So what was the point of the 8 exactly? Seems people are either waiting for the X or buying something cheaper.
Apple is not expecting folk with an iPhone7 to upgrade to an iPhone8. It’s aimed at people with older models.
One other small thing:
What I suspect we will see is a surge in iPhone8 sales when the iPhoneX is released. Folk are not necessarily waiting for the X: they’re waiting to make a comparison before deciding.
Just curious: if you've had, say, a 5 SE, or a 6, 7 (plus or not) level iPhone for a few years . . .
What is the killer motivation to spend a thousand dollars on an 8 or an X? It's just a phone after all, so what is the justification for trading up?
Thoughts?
Fully agree. For all my apps I am using on my 6s the phone is good enough. All "new" feature of the 8 are nice to have but not a compelling reason to upgrade
Keeping the SE, 6s and 7 in the line up doesn't help sales of the 8 which doesn't *look* any different. It offers a lot, but on the inside. Regular non-tech savvy customers probably have a hard time understanding why they could buy an 8, instead of a 7 or a much cheaper 6s. Which are doing their job pretty well (excluding AR and Wireless charging). Why they are keeping (with the X) 5 models available, it is a bit of a mystery to me.
In this context, and with the X looking (the real *new* phone), commenting on the sales of the 8 is a bit of a time waster. One could argue - what are the sales of the SE, 6s and 7 currently instead? what are the sales of the entire portfolio going to be after the first users willing to spend so much money on the X have their new shiny thing? what will customer by from the 5 different iPhones product line up available starting November?
That being said, I have had a 6 for 3 years and upgraded to a base model 8 plus. And I love it. And get 2 full days' worth of battery lifetime with same usage patterns. I will get the successor of the X in 2-3 years when the tech will be mature and my 8plus will start showing signs of not being able to run iOS 14 well... (or some other catastrophic event force me to change )
Just curious: if you've had, say, a 5 SE, or a 6, 7 (plus or not) level iPhone for a few years . . .
What is the killer motivation to spend a thousand dollars on an 8 or an X? It's just a phone after all, so what is the justification for trading up?
Thoughts?
If your own phone is looking worse for wear after years of use, why not get a new one and enjoy the few new features and few extra years longevity it'll come with. That's like saying why get a new car if your old car still gets you from A-B. It's not always about using it to it's fullest and using every specsheet feature.
My wife got an 8 on day1 to replace her 6S... it had many chips around it, it had the battery issue of switching off randomly under 40%, it had an issue with blurry camera photos also but we don't live anywhere near any apple stores so never bothered to get it repaired. Now she has a better camera, longer battery life, a shiny new phone and wireless charging which I must admit is more handy that I thought it would be.
I upgraded from a 7 Plus to an 8 Plus. Ironically, My carrier is showing I can upgrade my 8 Plus with no penalty, so I'll be trying to snag a X preorder next Friday morning. From what my carrier is showing for monthly pricing for the X 64GB, my payment will be about the same as my 8 Plus 256GB. I don't need 256GB, but that's the only one Best Buy had on launch day (I'm currently only using 33GB total). Even better, it's only $2 more than I was paying for my 7 Plus 128GB payment.
So what was the point of the 8 exactly? Seems people are either waiting for the X or buying something cheaper.
As Gruber has written about more than once, the point is it was impossible for Apple to produce the X at the insanely huge scale necessarily to be the only flagship. Its hardware components are too new and challenging at this point.
Comments
I think Apple should have gone full power iPhone X.
Iphone 8 is a great phone - but no point. It reminds me a bit of the iPhone 5C.
Fingers crossed the upcoming quarterly conference call
will bring good news regarding IPhone X production over Xmas.
I’m using an iPhone 6 and have skipped the
6s,7 due to the cost per useful feature addition equation not being value for money for me.
So mostly a logical purchasing process. Saying that, the iPhone 8 is a good phone but not cheap. I just don’t want to pay that much for a second tier phone. I’m just not excited enough. The irrational part of me wants the best iPhone these is. The iPhone 10 has me excited!
Do I want an iPhone X? Absolutely!
But, in Australia, the X is $1244USD for 64gb $1440USD for 256gb!
Instead of a respectful relationship between manufacturer/consumer like “Hey your stuff is pricey, but I see the value, I’ll pay it”
For me personally, Apple has become like a hot entitled girl with a contemptuous attitude, more like “ Watch this, I’ll knee them in the balls, by raising the price to ludicrous levels, bitch slap them and they are still gunna buy it!”
Sorry Apple, you lost an iPhone 8 and an IPhone
X sale here.
I think Apple is pushing themselves back into the super luxury realm again like back in the bad old days. Sure they can screw more out less people, but eventually it’s going to reduce the market share critical mass back to unsustainable levels.
The iPhone X is the real step forward. I understand people for waiting for it.
When I think about what I would get with an 8 over my 6s:
- Wireless charging (neat, but I won't use it,)
- A somewhat better camera (may be nice, but I'm happy with the 6s camera and not willing to pay for a new phone to get it,)
- Waterproofing (haven't needed it so far,)
- A faster processor (the 6s is working fine for me, so I don't really need that either)
On the down side, I would loose the headphone jack which I use on a very regular basis.
So there's really no incentive for me to pay $700+ to get a new phone that looks just like the one I have now and has features I don't particularly need. I suspect many people are in the same boat.
So, they cannot just go from the old phones to the new phones. Therefore these generation 8 phones are the bridge. People who are a bit frightened of the X with it's face ID and sheer unfamiliarity can relax with the 8's, knowing they still have just as powerful hardware and a familiar Touch ID. I tend to think that these's 8's are the end of this species of phone. It's a gamble that Apple have to take, even if it causes a short term hiccup. They may have lost a little ground while passing the baton, but once passed their fastest runner will leave everyone else eating dust.
Apple is not expecting folk with an iPhone7 to upgrade to an iPhone8. It’s aimed at people with older models.
One other small thing:
What I suspect we will see is a surge in iPhone8 sales when the iPhoneX is released. Folk are not necessarily waiting for the X: they’re waiting to make a comparison before deciding.
Why they are keeping (with the X) 5 models available, it is a bit of a mystery to me.
In this context, and with the X looking (the real *new* phone), commenting on the sales of the 8 is a bit of a time waster. One could argue - what are the sales of the SE, 6s and 7 currently instead? what are the sales of the entire portfolio going to be after the first users willing to spend so much money on the X have their new shiny thing? what will customer by from the 5 different iPhones product line up available starting November?
That being said, I have had a 6 for 3 years and upgraded to a base model 8 plus. And I love it. And get 2 full days' worth of battery lifetime with same usage patterns. I will get the successor of the X in 2-3 years when the tech will be mature and my 8plus will start showing signs of not being able to run iOS 14 well... (or some other catastrophic event force me to change
That's like saying why get a new car if your old car still gets you from A-B. It's not always about using it to it's fullest and using every specsheet feature.
My wife got an 8 on day1 to replace her 6S... it had many chips around it, it had the battery issue of switching off randomly under 40%, it had an issue with blurry camera photos also but we don't live anywhere near any apple stores so never bothered to get it repaired. Now she has a better camera, longer battery life, a shiny new phone and wireless charging which I must admit is more handy that I thought it would be.