I buy a Mac roughy once every 10 years, and I buy an iPhone roughly once every 5 years so I’m not so fussed.
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Other Are you happy about Apple’s recent pricing hikes?
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I feel there needs to be another poll choice. No I'm not happy with the price hikes but it has NOTHING to do with Apple... Unless you're living in the woods somewhere and haven't been to a store in two years you couldn't miss the price of everything going up.
This can depend on the type of inventory one is looking for. More content is only meaningful if it's desirable content and that will depend on the subscriber.
Even with the price increase, Apple TV+ is still 53% cheaper than HBO Max or Hulu, 36% cheaper than Disney+, and 30% cheaper than Netflix Basic, Paramount+ or Peacock. Whether or not Apple TV+ or any of them are worth the price is entirely up to the subscriber.
Using your figures, 680€ was the equivalent of around $885 USD at the time. 1000€ is the equivalent of around $994 USD today. $885 USD to $994 USD is only around 1.2% per year average. Much of the price increase has been due to the weaker euro, especially in the past year or two. Also, were there any changes in the VAT rate versus ten years ago?
Yes, I’m so happy Apple raised prices so I can show them how much I love them by giving them more money. Best Apple update ever. ❤️
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Definitely not happy with the price hikes, especially in Europe.
There is a limit to how much I am willing to pay.
There is a limit to how much I am willing to pay.
What do people think would happen after everyone (including corporations) got monopoly money for 2 years and businesses were closed?
Me tooooo. On one hand I was happy to see the price hike and on the other hand somewhat disappointed they weren't higher
Who on earth apart from share holders would be happy with price rises? I mean I accepted them and I'll continue to buy Apple devices because I like them and they are the best on the market. However most people would like to pay less if they could. I mean who wants to pay more?
It's somewhat ironic. Apple announces significant profits then announces price hikes. People on this forum go rah rah and then when price increases are announce the typical greedy corporation/how much is enough rants are kept to a minimum, unlike other corporations in other industries.
Not in Japan, where I live. 14 base model sales numbers down 69% from 12 and 35% 13.... and 14 pro is down over 30% from the 12 pro. 20% from the 13 Pro. (Carrier aggregate figures).
iPhone 14 pm in 2022, for example costs 60% more than the 11 pm from 2019 with the same storage.
I've hardly yet even seen a 14 in the wild, where as the 12 and 12 mini was literally everywhere within weeks of release.
Apple used to command 55% of ALL smartphone sales by number of units sold in Japan, more by total $ spent.
I doubt it will still do so come 2023. I've seen more and more of my friends "defect" to Android recently since their prices are now so much lower than Apple's.
I find it funny that the same people who were pro-lockdown and furlough are complaining about the cost of living crisis.
I feel we have created so much tech that it is starting to overwhelm people.
A simple example is: get 5 friends together, talk about what the group is watching. I guarantee you'll hear things like: What is that on, I don't have that service, I don't have an apple tv, I am borrowing a sign on from....., I don't have prime.
Apple is the same way. ipad interface looks the same as ios but apps like safari are different.
Home automation: yeah that is a forever discussion.
Tech is needed but when is it too much?
It's funny to me how so many people don't know what price gouging is. Hint: price increases on luxury consumer electronics is not price gouging 🤣
A grocery store hiking up the price of a loaf of bread to $100 during a famine to take advantage of people's real needs? THAT would be an example of price-gouging.
A grocery store hiking up the price of a loaf of bread to $100 during a famine to take advantage of people's real needs? THAT would be an example of price-gouging.
First, iPhone is not a luxury anymore. There are iPhone SE, Watch SE, iPad with comparable price to any Android tablets. Second, iPhone is kind of essential for lots of people’s daily life. Raising price relentlessly (much higher than inflation) to take advantage of people’s daily need is kind of gouging…
Apple could double or triple its prices and I would still pay.
What's my alternative? Use Android? Hahahahahahahahahahahhahaha!!
Yep. People don't understand just how first world their first world problems are.
Even if you accept the argument "a smart phone is required for normal daily living" (which I find dubious), it doesn't HAVE to be a iPhone, let alone a brand new one. A $200 Android device would do the minimum just fine. The difference is that people on here don't WANT one. Wants <> Needs.
I mean, I'd like to have a Ferrari, but I don't accuse Ferrari of price gouging because it's prices are higher than I would like. My 15 year old vehicle serves my NEEDS just fine.
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I like this way of evaluating it. I'm going to do some back-of-the-napkin calculation here. Don't know what it will come out to be, but here it goes. Going to use very round numbers, doing a lot of rounding down to be conservative...
Ted Lasso season 1:
My wife and I watched this at least three times during the early days of the pandemic, it really lifted our spirits. We still, when we need a pick-me-up, watch episode 8. Let's say 30 minutes an episode, ten episodes, three viewings, two people: About 30 person-hours.
Ted Lasso season 2:
We watched this just once, though this time with my stepson as well. Again let's say 30 minutes an episode, 12 episodes, three people, let's say 18 person-hours.
For All Mankind, three seasons:
Only I watched this one. Thirty hour-long episodes. 30 person-hours.
Schmigadoon!:
Six half-hour episodes, two people. Six person-hours.
Loot:
So far we've watched eight episodes. Eight person-hours.
Pachinko:
Five episodes so far. Ten person-hours.
Wolfwalkers:
Movie was about 1:45, two of us, three and a half person-hours.
CODA:
Two hour movie, four person-hours.
Friday Night Baseball:
We've watched one game. Six person-hours.
I don't know if I'm missing anything else, I'm pretty sure we've put more hours into Ted Lasso, but we'll leave it at that. That all adds up to 115 and a half person-hours. So far, we have paid a total of $75 for Apple TV+. We also got a free year, so just for better modeling let's add another 60 to that, for $135. That adds up to a hair more than $1 per person per hour.
So Apple just upped their price by 40%. What if that had been the price all along? Call that $190. Which would mean we would have spent (with no free year, and at the higher price the whole time) about $1.65 per person per hour. Again, all very round numbers, but I've tried to be conservative; I'm confident that that figure is actually a little lower, some of these episodes go well beyond 30 or 60 minutes, and there's been some rewatching, but let's just roll with it.
Renting a film on the iTunes Store if it's not on Netflix or some other streaming service would be anywhere from $4 to $8. If it's just me and my wife, that's between $1 and $2 per hour per person (for a two-hour movie), that's about par. Going to the movies in a theater would be much more, since we'd have to pay for two tickets: say about $5 per person per hour. Going to see a baseball game live? We do that from time to time. Let's say $20 apiece for the cheapest seats available, plus parking...maybe about $10 per person per hour?
Of course to really do a comparison I'd have to do the same exercise for Disney+ and for Hulu and for Netflix. I suspect that at least two of those the ratio is better, maybe significantly. But still, I think the numbers on a per-hour basis are very reasonable.
No new products?! They've been moving to their own game-changing silicon processors in recent years. And introduced the Mac Studio.
iPhone is most certainly a luxury item along with iPad and Watch.
For under $200, you can get a Xiaomi 6.6-inch 5G phone with dual-SIM and 128GB storage. Same thing with the tablet - metal unibody, 90Hz, 10.6-inch, all for under $200.
Disagreed on an iPhone not being a luxury, but it doesn't matter because even if you don't believe that, it's still not gouging. First of all, the price increases aren't absurdly unreasonable or anything close to that. Second, unlike with food, rent, and other essentials for your well-being, you can buy used or refurbished iPhones for much cheaper. Third, iPhones aren't the only smartphone out there. You can always buy another brand.
So, no matter how you try to spin it, it's not price-gouging.
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