starxd

rogifan_new said:

Don’t get greedy Apple. No Apple Watch Edition stupidity. Remember how successful the iPhone SE was in comparison to the 5C. People will pay a “premium” but don’t want to feel like they’re being gouged. Don’t give consumers any reason to think of moving to S8.

What was stupid about the gold Apple Watch Edition? It was brilliant. They got a ton of press over it, and it gave an aura of luxury and fashion to the whole Apple Watch line. The point wasn't to sell a lot of Editions, it was all about image and branding. It was masterful marketing.

nunzy said:

 Apple doesn't care about market share. They suck up all the profitss instead.  The real trick is how they can get that money back into the US so it can be paid to Wall Street.

Paid to Wall Street? What does that even mean???

I don't buy it. I think we'll see the same thing that happened with the original iPad. There were months of rumors about how incredibly expensive it would be - some saying $1000 or more (sound familiar?) and then when it was announced at $499, people thought it was an incredible bargain. I would not be one bit surprised if Apple themselves weren't fueling some of this wild price speculation around the iPhone 8 (or whatever it's called). I don't believe for one minute that the starting price will be $1000, or $1200 as some (Gruber) have said. That's absurd. My guess is it will start between $769-899. Then as the second part of Apple's pricing strategy, I think it's possible they could actually lower the prices of the 7s and 7s Plus, perhaps to starting prices of $599 and $699 respectively. Either that, or the prices will stay the same - but this analyst is predicting a huge price increase for the 7s models, plus a MUCH more expensive iPhone 8. That seems very unlikely to me. If the iPhone 8 will be the high-priced premium phone everyone predicts, that means the 7s models will be the mass market phones that Apple needs to sell hundreds of millions of - but they won't be the the top-of-the-line iPhones, which could be a strong disincentive to buy them. If people can't afford the best iPhone, but don't want to settle for second best, they could just say screw Apple and switch to Android. Apple has to give people a reason to buy the mass market 7s models in huge numbers, and the best reason I can think of is a price reduction. So anyway - that's my bold prediction that I literally have not heard anywhere else: an iPhone 8 starting price that is only moderately higher than today's top-of-the-line iPhone, combined with slight price reductions for the 7s models. That is a strategy for growth. What this analyst is predicting is a strategy for disaster. Anyway, we'll all see soon enough!

avon b7 said:

StrangeDays said:

But but but China hates iphone. Or was that Japan*? Neither? Well shoot, there goes that narrative. 

*https://www.wired.com/2009/02/why-the-iphone/

With very low single digit marketshare with their best selling model (for a product with a limited model spread) 2017 was hardly a love story (assuming figures are confirmed).

Ummmm... a single phone model getting nearly 3% is very good. Even the best selling phone in China only did slightly better. And added together the two 7 models are over 5%. That's great considering their high price point.

lkrupp said:

I always have trouble reconciling seemingly contradictory reports. Apple "remains one of the most successful brick-and-mortar retailers in the world with sales of $5,546 per square foot, according to recent research." But Mac sales are slumping, iPad sales are slumping, the Watch is a flop, iPhone sales are declining and losing market share according to analyst reports and market survey results. I guess I don't get it.

Mac sales are hardly "slumping."  Where did you get that from?

And Apple Watch is not only the best-selling wearable of all time, it is now among the very best-selling watches of any type.  It's a big success.  

And iPhone sales are doing great.  Who are these "analysts" you're listening to?  Apple puts out accurate figures every quarter, so you don't have to listen to "analysts" to know how they're doing.  The fact is, they are doing incredibly well - better than any other consumer electronics company.  

ravnorodom said:

By 2020, I think Apple will ditch the product just like its previous boom box. By Apple standard, this is not even an acceptable number.

30+ million speakers is a pretty acceptable number, even by Apple standards. And I suspect it will be higher, because Apple will release more Siri capable speakers, including some Beats branded ones.