Dubious Taiwan telecom slide claims Apple won't change iPhone pricing

AppleInsider · September 9, 2019 6:07PM

The new generation of iPhones will be shipping on September 20 at the same pricing as the models that are replaced, an alleged slide from a Taiwanese carrier briefing claims -- but some details on the slide cast doubt on the veracity of the information.

Image via Slashleaks

The photograph, allegedly taken within a Taiwanese mobile network's internal briefing ahead of the 2019 iPhone launches details the devices as the "iPhone 11," "iPhone 11 Pro," and "iPhone 11 Pro Max," as replacements for the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max respectively. The page offers details that are largely "known" from rumors, but combines them into one sheet.

Three versions of each model will apparently be on offer, the shot shared by Slashleaks claims, with the "Pro" versions offered with 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB capacities. The "iPhone 11" is said to be available in 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB variants.

The "iPhone 11 Pro" will cost between $999 and $1,199 depending on capacity, with the "Max" version between $1,099 and $1,299. Like the iPhone XR, the "iPhone 11" will cost $749 for the lowest-capacity option, rising to $899 for the largest.

For both the "iPhone 11 Pro" models, they are listed as shipping on September 20, while the "iPhone 11" is marked as to be determined.

Also on the page is the "Apple Watch S5," which is listed as being offered in 44mm and 40mm variants, though without pricing or availability information on the page.

While the image seems convincing, there is the addition of two listings towards the bottom of the slide that casts some doubt as to the veracity of the information. The inclusion of a line for "AirPods" seems illogical due to a lack of rumors relating to a third-generation device being imminent. The appearance of "AirPower" is extremely unlikely to be true, because Apple cancelled the mat some time ago.

That this is an image of a foreign-language slide at a presentation which cannot be verified. It is plausible that the slide is made up of the carrier's best guess of what Apple will announce, rather than Apple-provided details.

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rain22 · September 9, 2019 6:31PM

They won’t lower prices as they need to move more of last years stock.
Which is too bad. It will just compel even more people to abandon the platform.

I don’t agree with Apple’s strategy here - especially when they tout ‘Services’ as the future.

sydn · September 9, 2019 6:44PM

rain22 said:

They won’t lower prices as they need to move more of last years stock.
Which is too bad. It will just compel even more people to abandon the platform.

I don’t agree with Apple’s strategy here - especially when they tout ‘Services’ as the future.

I totally agree with you, they will lose more users and their install base will shrink.
I had hopes that declining sales will teach them a lesson on pricing but looks they are too stubborn to accept the truth, or too greedy !

edited September 2019

mjtomlin · September 9, 2019 7:11PM

rain22 said:

They won’t lower prices as they need to move more of last years stock.
Which is too bad. It will just compel even more people to abandon the platform.

I don’t agree with Apple’s strategy here - especially when they tout ‘Services’ as the future.

People are not abandoning the platform, in fact Apple says the opposite is true, the user base continues to grow. A growing user base and declining sales is an indication that people are not upgrading their devices as often. More than likely that is a reflection of higher price points.

Also, they are not touting services as the future of Apple... they are saying the biggest revenue growth will come from services.

The more services/features Apple can offer (free or paid), the more likely people will remain a part of the platform. And remember it is a platform that includes more than just the iPhone.

edited September 2019

hentaiboy · September 9, 2019 7:33PM

Prices may not rise in the U.S. but they most assuredly will in the rest of the world with the USD at a 17-year high. The base iPhone 11 will be a $1500 phone in AUS/NZ.

cornchip · September 9, 2019 7:40PM

mjtomlin said:

More than likely that is a reflection of higher price points.

or even more likely than that, it's a reflection of devices lasting longer & longer & people not feeling the need to upgrade. and also getting used devices thereby maintaining/increasing user base without being reflected in the sales numbers of new devices.

mieswall · September 9, 2019 8:53PM

I had hopes that declining sales will teach them a lesson on pricing but looks they are too stubborn to accept the truth, or too greedy !

I don't think that lower demand caused by higher prices took them by surprise (unless they don't have a clue about the basics of economy, or they are completely stupid. They aren't). They perfectly knew that this would happen, and yet they executed it anyway, then doubled the bet last year, rising prices again. They even pushed the same situation for most other products... except, aha!, iPads. And guess which is the only hardware line (besides some wearables) showing some growth? Yes, Ipads. As a personal statement, I promised myself that I won't buy iPhones or Macs that have increased their prices in some cases by over 50% in my country in the last couple of years. In fact, the only  products my family has bought in the last two years have been... several iPads. We are even starting to use them more frequently! The real question imho is, which is the long term plan, and how this non-achievable-for-most-people-pricing-policy fit in that strategy? Because, I think these price targets won't stand much longer, or sales will sink. And I think tech history shows this process is not gradual and it is hardly reversible: when it happens, it it is violent and painful. I also thought this was the right time to do it, but didn't have any hopes on that. Now Apple is against the wall: they can't recognize a pricing problem and launch new phones at lowered prices; but they can't stand up much longer in this situation of products so obviously outside optimum point in the price/demand curve. But, I insist, there MUST be a long term plan in this, designed years ago. I just can't see which one it could be.

rogifan_new · September 9, 2019 10:51PM

Wait, so AI thinks the new phones announced tomorrow will be cheaper than the ones they’re replacing? When has that ever been the case?

pickurpoison · September 9, 2019 11:10PM

rogifan_new said:

Wait, so AI thinks the new phones announced tomorrow will be cheaper than the ones they’re replacing? When has that ever been the case?

I don’t think AI thinks that, as they’re calling the rumor dubious. But why they refer to the cheaper pricing as the “same pricing”, and why the headline indicates the price isn’t changing, is rather puzzling.

mknelson · September 9, 2019 11:44PM

Did anybody ask somebody who can read Chinese to translate the last two lines?

I tried google translate but it was coming up with random results (Airpods line briefly popped up as "Female Flat strength increases" - I think Google was trolling me)

wood1208 · September 10, 2019 2:01AM

Why waste time when we all will find out truth in less than 24 hours/

blackhipster · September 10, 2019 7:17AM

I don't see why they should reduce the price when people are still willing to pay!

nadriel · September 10, 2019 7:47AM

That this is an image of a foreign-language slide at a presentation which cannot be verified.

Globally read news site talks like Victorian English, why not go all the way to some orient language.

Isn’t Chinese like the third most spoken language in the USA after English and Spanish?

Within 24 hours for announcement and someone puts this kind of “rumour”, kind of useless. Would’ve been more interesting during last October.

But the hype is real and I read this..

frantisek · September 10, 2019 8:37AM

Whether it shows potential for ARM Macbook then it is super. Benchmarks against A12X or A13X will be interesting.

Real question what kind of software you can run on it. If Apple has this problem solved, then they would probably made ARM Macbook already.

hentaiboy said:

Prices may not rise in the U.S. but they most assuredly will in the rest of the world with the USD at a 17-year high. The base iPhone 11 will be a $1500 phone in AUS/NZ.

Who cares. Lol. My upgrade cycle is 1-2 years. But not the latest but last supported model so now heading for SE maybe 6s.My yearly cost of ownership is around 55 USD.

Dubious Taiwan telecom slide claims Apple won't change iPhone pricing

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