iPhone X Apple is losing its mainstream, non-fan core with the X

[Juicy Box]

Didn’t the iPhone 6 look pretty much like every iPhone from the front before it? Apples iconic shape/home button combo is synonymous with the brand and was used since its inception.

There is more to a phone's design than the front.

If you thought the iPhone has always looked like an Android phone, what’s your logic with the buttonless iPhone X?

I was referring to the iPhone 6 design, not all the iPhones. About the buttonless design, I think it would take some getting use too, and I already mentioned that I would miss Touch ID.

Doesn’t it look very similar to most of the other Android flagships currently on the market?

I don't think it does, but to be honest, I have not really paid too much attention to other phones currently on the market.

 

[DNichter]

I think another issue is Apple is using other manufacturers as guinea pigs to vet the ideas. At previous time, Apple used to be in the front of the line in setting the bar and innovation. Now there hasn't really been anything ground breaking so far in recent releases. You could argue that FaceID / wireless charging is innovation, but the other brands have had it for a while now. The only thing I've been enjoying so far is the camera, and I DO plan to upgrade my iPhone again in a year.

I honestly would like to jump ship, but the apps + ecosystem is the largest driving factor for staying with Apple iPhone.

For me, the gesture UI is a nice innovation. Taking a home button centric UI and replacing it completely with a gesture based UI was quite a risk and I think it's been for the better.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

There is more to a phone's design than the front.

I was referring to the iPhone 6 design, not all the iPhones. About the buttonless design, I think it would take some getting use too, and I already mentioned that I would miss Touch ID.

I don't think it does, but to be honest, I have not really paid too much attention to other phones currently on the market.

I feel every iPhone has been an evolution of its predecessor with subtle hints, like the way the antenna bands on the 6 split the back up in the same way the panels did on the iPhone 5. From the front they all look the same. I think now the button has gone it looks a lot like some of the android offerings. It’s only the camera bump and the Apple logo on the back that really set it apart. The notch when the screen is on is not unique in that it’s the only phone with a notch, but you can tell it’s an iPhone. I’m not convinced it’s a good look though, in fact personally I don’t like it.

 

[Applejuiced]

People who go onto forums to whine about Apple not caring about their feelings or saying nonsense like:

...about a phone they don't even own need the help, professional or otherwise.

For me, I see phone, I like phone, I buy phone, I masochistically go to MR to talk about phone I bought. Others go to MR to repeatedly post about how smart they are that they didn't buy a phone because it would make them "settle". Haha, ok, you are a smart dude. You sure didn't fall for Apple's tricks like some us! Again, I'm not attempting to stop anyone from complaining, but when you say certain ... things, you will get responses. I wasn't even talking to you to begin with, and why do you keep winking at me?

Hey guess what, I will continue to post my views wether you like it or not.
Again that's what discussion forums are, if you can't handle that then that's your problem

 

[dk001]

Was in a very recent workshop and the topic of the iPhone X came up as two members had one. Lunch talk.
One just wanted the most recent model to replace his 6+. Felt that the X was good.
The other wanted the latest greatest and admitted that while she would keep it, was disappointed with it. It was less than she originally expected. It was better than her 6S.
iPhone 7/7+, 8/8+, Galaxy S8, Note 8, and Pixel 2 where the remaining models owned by the members.

Personally I don't think Apple has lost its' way. It is going the direction it wants. What that leaves is many of wondering what is happening to the Apple we used to know and admire.

 

[Hater]

There are three times the SE's in my office (200 or so people) than there are X's.

7's dominate though.

 

[dumastudetto]

Everyone I know intends on buying iPhone X. Most already have one. Nobody I know would ever consider abandoning iPhone and iOS for Android.

 

[Fthree]

our apple store JUST recently got some in stock and people are asking if i preordered mine (which I did not was just able to find one online when the restock was freshly done) Theres alot of interest just the fact that people are hearing that the supply is low will make people wait.

 

[sean000]

I think another issue is Apple is using other manufacturers as guinea pigs to vet the ideas. At previous time, Apple used to be in the front of the line in setting the bar and innovation. Now there hasn't really been anything ground breaking so far in recent releases. You could argue that FaceID / wireless charging is innovation, but the other brands have had it for a while now. The only thing I've been enjoying so far is the camera, and I DO plan to upgrade my iPhone again in a year.

I honestly would like to jump ship, but the apps + ecosystem is the largest driving factor for staying with Apple iPhone.

I don't know that Apple has always been as innovative as people like to think, but Apple does have a history of making iconic products that certainly seem like they were the first to do this or that. As an example: Apple didn't invent the mp3 player, but they did make the first one that mattered (and certainly the one that matter most, even if it wasn't the best in terms of audio quality). They have certainly been first in some areas, especially revolutionary features like the pinch to stretch/zoom on the first iPhone. But what's more important? Doing it first, or doing it best? Companies are always making complex decisions when they are competing with each other. Is it better to be the first to offer something new, or better to be the first to offer that new thing in a way that works better than the competition? Back in the iPhone 3G days it seemed like Android was about a year or so behind iOS, and still trying to lure app developers. Apple had the luxury of time to develop and release new features a regular scheduled intervals based on their development cycles. Even then there would be bugs with new major iOS releases, but not nearly the bugs experienced on the Android side at the time. Anyway, those days are over and the competition is better and sometimes beats Apple at releasing features Apple possibly wanted to release first. Apple and Microsoft both have had to adapt to a market that no longer respects regular development and release cycles. These days you have to develop new features and major software improvements on a schedule that is determined by your competition and consumer demand. In Apple's defense for not always being first, they sometimes take something others have done first (smartwatch, fitness tracker, FaceID, fake bokeh) and they do it better.

I was an early adopter of the Apple Watch, which was definitely released a few months ahead of when the software was actually ready for prime time. It still worked, and I'm glad I got it when I did, but it improved a lot when watch OS2 was released. I believe we will be saying the same thing about the iPhone X. It's not as beta as the Apple Watch was at release, but it's not as refined as it will be after a few more updates and another hardware release. It is now the norm for big companies like Microsoft, Google, and Apple to release new features before they have been fully realized, and then fix them with updates.

I'm not a Mac user, but I have used iOS since the 3G. Most Mac users I have known over the years aren't concerned with how innovative Apple is. That's not why most of them buy Apple products. They buy Apple products because the brand has built a reputation on offering hardware and software that they believe looks better, works better, and is more reliable. I'm not a fan of everything Apple puts out, but I too think of their products as having a certain elegance and style (and sometimes simplicity) that many people value more than they value hardware specs and the myriad choices offered by the competition.
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For me, the gesture UI is a nice innovation. Taking a home button centric UI and replacing it completely with a gesture based UI was quite a risk and I think it's been for the better.

I think it might be better for many users. I think the gestures are mostly (but not all) intuitive and even after only a few minutes I felt like the X was better for not having a home button. But the home button is still a great feature for the techno-phobic user who doesn't want to learn a series of gestures. The single home button is what has made the iPhone easily accessible to so many. Of course Apple might offer both for years to come, but at some point it won't make sense to offer a home button on some devices but not others. By then a common set of smartphones gestures might be part of the vernacular for smartphone users around the world.

 

[Steve686]

Let’s not forget that deliveries started barely more than a MONTH ago.

I’m sure many people were turned off by hearing 6-8 weeks for delivery and now that almost all first day preorders are delivered, many more phones will be popping up as the 1 week delivery status entices more people to upgrade before Christmas.

 

[boltjames]

For me, the gesture UI is a nice innovation. Taking a home button centric UI and replacing it completely with a gesture based UI was quite a risk and I think it's been for the better.

Same here.

Every time I go to use my iPad I miss the gestures, and when I use my daughters iPhone 6 it's a very frustrating experience now.

 

[Deeds500]

Players like Nokia, Blackberry and Palm were caught completely flatfooted by the iPhone and later Android phones. They were still peddling "old" tech while other companies moved forward with "new and shiny" tech.

And they couldn't react in time. That's why Palm is gone... Nokia is basically a brand name... and BlackBerry is, well, I don't know what BlackBerry is today.

The good news for Apple is... they're still highly regarded in the smartphone game. It should be no surprise that some people LIKE the iPhone. A lot of people, actually.

While the entirety of Android absolutely dwarfs the iPhone.... the iPhone is still a 200 million units a year product. With massive margins too. No other company has those kinds of numbers. (Samsung sells more units... but at FAR lower margins)

Could Apple's iPhone sales numbers decrease rapidly? Perhaps... but I still think they are in a MUCH better place than Palm, Nokia and BlackBerry ever were.

I see your point though... incremental changes aren't always enough. But at the same time... massive changes aren't always good either!

It's "damned if you do, damned if you don't"

Apple does too little and people complain. Apple does too much and people complain too! It's a tough balancing act.

Your comment was a well-worded warning to Apple: watch out or you will become the next Nokia or some other defunct company.

But I've heard the same basic warning hundreds of times over the last 10 years of the iPhone... and over the last 30 years of the Macintosh.

Somehow Apple stays afloat. They march to the beat of their own drum... and fortunately they get enough customers to march along with them.

The same can't be said for Nokia, Blackberry and Palm...

Perhaps calling Apple the next Nokia was a bit extreme and you're right, Apple is a lot better positioned than Nokia ever was. Even little things like customer service. I remember emailing Nokia because an app I bought, a simple stopwatch that I NEEDED for training, which cost me $7 mind you, keot crashing. The stopwatch worked fine but it would crash. I got a response saying email the dev. The guy who wrote the email could not have cared less. Never got it rectified. Just terrible service. Totally out of tune with its customer base. A part of me is glad Nokia went down because of their service.

But my point remains, start offering more or lose the crown. Samsung is hellbent on rolling Apple and they are starting to accumulate the knowhow and technology to do it.

 

[44267547]

Let’s not forget that deliveries started barely more than a MONTH ago.

I’m sure many people were turned off by hearing 6-8 weeks for delivery and now that almost all first day preorders are delivered, many more phones will be popping up as the 1 week delivery status entices more people to upgrade before Christmas.

But according to others on Macrumors, if the iPhone X is available only after being launched a month ago, then it must be a failure on all sorts of levels. Which I find comical, because it clearly shows the Apple is able to actually keep up with the demand versus others that will make the claim that they are artificially controlling the supply if there was a constraint. So it seems either way, Apple is always in the wrong.

 

[StrawberryG]

The X seems to be appealing to the core fan base, but so many people I know are either sticking with their current iPhone or going to another phone vendor. In our office not a single person out of 30 is remotely interested in the X. Of these, about 3/4 are iPhone users. Five of those (including me) have switched to an S8 or Note 8. In past years, there was a palpable excitement about the new phones. This round has fallen very flat. Where does Apple go from here? Yes, the X is selling well overall, but Apple is losing its mojo and edge as they slowly run out of ideas. Are the exciting days gone? Is the iPhone just another phone to most people outside of the fan base?

I'm afraid so.

But, it's gained popularity with Android users. I guess they could care less about their creatives, especially within their computer product line.. Mac Pro in particular, and death of the mac Mini starting with late 2014 models.

In short: greed, short-sightedness, cockiness, the typical mentality that goes hand-in-hand with conventional CEOs.

Unlike Iphones, Blackberries were truly revolutionary with each release and launch. They just lacked the funds for the business, but the designs? The functionality? AMAZING. Almost left Apple in the dust.

 

[konicky]

Price and availability is holding the X back at the moment. It's too expensive and having to wait for delivery is giving customers too much time to think about how much they are paying. I'm still in two minds about cancelling my pre-order but if it had been available straight away I would just have bought it and got on with my life !

 

[hirsthirst]

I realize the example I shared with is not a good one. We all got it, but guess what...it’s company issue so the price tag is $0. Everyone really likes it though.

I'd say that was quite a key piece of information & somewhat undermines your point. "Would you like this brand new thing & collect it at the end of the hall?, it's on us."

 

[rockitdog]

As an investor, I could understand why this matters, but as a consumer and potential Apple product user, why would this matter?

It matters because the sales numbers will tell the story of weather non-core fans are really being lost or if the X gained users that previously didn't exist. To the hardcore Apple fan it won't matter. To Apple, it matters.

 

[JayIsAwesome]

My dept has 8 people in and 3 (myself included) have the 10. And another plans on getting it. So....yeah there’s that

 

[Torque_beast]

I think the OP asks a very good question. I'm a big Nexus / Pixel fan, but almost everyone I know is on an iPhone, this is an older mature crowd that make good money. I have asked maybe 50 people in the past month if they plan to get the new iPhone X. Every one of them said no. Mainly they're are attached to TouchID and it seems FaceID scares them away. The price tag is a minor issue to them, but still an issue. And they say, hey my current iPhone works good still, no need to rush out and buy a new phone for no reason. I then explained how cool the new X and what it does, all of them, so what.

This iPhone crowd does not sound one bit excited about the X, like no urgency or lusting after the phone, like I thought some maybe would. People just don't seem to care anymore.

I can understand this as well. I had no interest in getting a new phone. However, my iPhone 6 was giving issues and had to do factory resets 5 times then my wife’s started acting up too a couple weeks later. I went to get the essential phone but after playing with the iPhone X and pixel and essential side by side there was no question which one was better. I walked out with 2 new iPhone X’s and am happy with my purchase. Face ID was a concern of mine but I actually like it a lot after using it. Don’t get me wrong, I think the price of phones today is highway robbery and there is not a phone out there WORTH a thousand dollars but they will get it as long as we keep paying it.

 

[dk001]

Perhaps calling Apple the next Nokia was a bit extreme and you're right, Apple is a lot better positioned than Nokia ever was. Even little things like customer service. I remember emailing Nokia because an app I bought, a simple stopwatch that I NEEDED for training, which cost me $7 mind you, keot crashing. The stopwatch worked fine but it would crash. I got a response saying email the dev. The guy who wrote the email could not have cared less. Never got it rectified. Just terrible service. Totally out of tune with its customer base. A part of me is glad Nokia went down because of their service.

But my point remains, start offering more or lose the crown. Samsung is hellbent on rolling Apple and they are starting to accumulate the knowhow and technology to do it.

I suspect if they could, Samsung would roll out an almost exact copy of the iPhone but put in all the options that make the Samsung Galaxy and Note so popular.
I know if I could combine them I would (iPhone and Note.)

 

[Juicy Box]

It matters because the sales numbers will tell the story of weather non-core fans are really being lost or if the X gained users that previously didn't exist. To the hardcore Apple fan it won't matter. To Apple, it matters.

I wouldn't disagree with this. I think I didn't understand your post the first time I read it.

 

[thesaint024]

I'm afraid so.

But, it's gained popularity with Android users. I guess they could care less about their creatives, especially within their computer product line.. Mac Pro in particular, and death of the mac Mini starting with late 2014 models.

In short: greed, short-sightedness, cockiness, the typical mentality that goes hand-in-hand with conventional CEOs.

Unlike Iphones, Blackberries were truly revolutionary with each release and launch. They just lacked the funds for the business, but the designs? The functionality? AMAZING. Almost left Apple in the dust.

Sorry, I couldn't let this comment go. I wish I could call you the "T" word, but that would get me in trouble. Started an account today to say that Blackberries were revolutionary unlike iPhones? That's rich. The world has literally changed because of the iPhone and they created an entire industry of wannabes. Please stick to facts when you hate on the phone, not comedy. That would give your anti-iPhone sentiment more credence.

 

[Parkin Pig]

We have about 800 in my office, and we’ve had more than 550 order the X.

Does your boss know you've got enough spare time at work to conduct pointless surveys? And did you just stop counting at 550? Seems like a waste of time to go to all that trouble and not get an accurate number.

 

[D.T.]

Does your boss know you've got enough spare time at work to conduct pointless surveys? And did you just stop counting at 550? Seems like a waste of time to go to all that trouble and not get an accurate number.

I guess you missed this post of theirs that indicated how they got that number ...

Yep. I surveyed everyone in the lunch line one day.

NO! Of course I didn’t. When mine showed up I went to grab it from our mobility person (girl at our office who handles all of our phones) and I saw her looking through tons of boxes to find mine. I inquired as to whether it was a popular request or not, to which she said yes. It then sparked her curiosity so she logged in to our help desk ticketing system and looked at how many tickets had been submitted requesting one. She said “already more than 550...I’m guessing by the end of the week it will be more than 600”.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Does your boss know you've got enough spare time at work to conduct pointless surveys? And did you just stop counting at 550? Seems like a waste of time to go to all that trouble and not get an accurate number.

In fairness it looks like they are company phones bought in bulk. The company must be making a hell of a profit to not mind buying luxury phones for employees to use. My company posted an €80m post tax profit last year but our sales team still only had iPhone 7’s. Anyway, these sorts of figures are very different to those from the average consumer I always think.