icoco3

sog35 said:

icoco3 said:

$100-$300 iPhones are sold in the secondary market when someone upgrades.  Apple does not get a slice of the pie but it says a lot about the high quality of the hardware that the secondary market has so many older models selling.  And, they are full blown Apple hardware to boot and those people are part of the ecosystem to bring in even more profit without lifting a finger.

That is true. But there is a huge chunk of the population that refuses to buy used phones. 

Stats don't lie. Every year about a BILLION phones under $400 are sold. If all those people wanted used iPhones they would buy one. Its obvious the majority of the market wants to buy NEW phones.

Thus Apple should give EXCLUSIVE licenses to hardware makers to make phones that run a stripped down version of iOS.  These phones would run for $200-$350 and would address a market that Apple has totally ignored.

For example in Japan they can give the exclusive license to Sony.  Sony would then build and sell a phone to Apple's specific specs. Even sell Sony A9 chips. In China it may be HTC or even Xiaomi. The point is it would be exclusive to a country. And the phones would be designed for that country (Japan does not like large phones). Hardware makers would beg Apple for those exclusive licenses.  In return Apple would get a royalty of $30-$45 per phone and increase its iOS user base.

saltyzip said:

I think more and more people are just hanging on to their phones these days, and not upgrading so often. I bought a new unlocked Moto G for my mother in law for under £130 and she loves it. She can easily make calls, take photos, access her email, Facebook and send WhatsApp and messages. All her photos get backed up to Google Photos and Facebook, what else does she need, what else do most people need.

You don't need to spend much to get a lot these days.

Skeptic Spartan said:

Apple feeling the Android pinch.  First Apple made them bigger, then smaller, then plastic.  They don't know whether there coming or going. It's tough going up against a superior OS.  With Android market share still on the rise, and Google coming out on top as the most profitable company, its no doubt Apple is feeling the hurt.

radarthekat said:

A look at the $110 call strike will tell you everything you need to know about while this 'news' came out this afternoon.  That's a huge wall of calls sitting there at the $110, a juicy target for those who would benefit if they were to expire worthless.  The stock has run too far since those calls were sold short.  So here we are, close enough to earnings that Apple won't, or can't respond, and so they come and whack the stock on the big monthly option expiration.

AppleInsider said:

... On Tuesday, FBI director James Comey ...