Other Are you happy about Apple’s recent pricing hikes?

[Andeddu]

Take note this is going to get worse as 1 of Sweden’s top bank has filed for bankruptcy just last week! Anyone remember Leeman Bros, Meryl Lynch etc from the USA in 2008?! I see it’s beginning again.

Yep. There will eventually be a systemic collapse of the banking system and I see no realistic way around it. Deutsche Bank will also become insolvent which will cause big problems regarding liquidity within the banking, business and retail sector. The problems we face are far worse than in 2008 as the mechanisms utilised by the government and central banks are no longer available. Interest rates cannot be lowered and massive bailouts cannot be made.

We fought the 2008 credit crunch with inflation. This time around, the problem is inflation and you cannot fight inflation with inflation.

 

[AppleFansF]

Lots of these posts use currency depreciation to justify Apple’s price hikes. That’s only partially true. Look at China’s market: iPhone price of 14/pro/max is exactly the same as 13/pro/max, even thou CNY depreciated against USD by about 15% (from 6.3 to 7.2). Why? Because to Apple, China’s market is more important than EU and Japan, and users in China are more sensitive to pricing hikes. In economic term, this is called “pricing discrimination”. It is legal.

Price discrimination is a selling strategy that charges customers different prices for the same product or service based on what the seller thinks they can get the customer to agree to. In pure price discrimination, the seller charges each customer the maximum price they will pay.

 

[webkit]

Lots of these posts use currency depreciation to justify Apple’s price hikes. That’s partially true. Look at China’s market: iPhone price of 14/pro/max is exactly the same as 13/pro/max, even thou CNY depreciated against USD by about 15% (from 6.3 to 7.2). Why? Because to Apple, China’s market is more important than EU and Japan, and users in China are more sensitive to pricing hikes. In economic term, this is called “pricing discrimination”. It is legal.

Price discrimination is a selling strategy that charges customers different prices for the same product or service based on what the seller thinks they can get the customer to agree to. In pure price discrimination, the seller charges each customer the maximum price they will pay.

The exchange rate between the Chinese Yuan and USD did not change that significantly between this year's iPhone launch and last year's. The 128GB iPhone 13 Pro at launch last year was CNY/RMB 7999 which at the time was approximately $1,238 USD. The 128GB iPhone 14 Pro was priced at CNY/RMB 7999 at launch this year which was approximately $1,145 USD. The price is lower in USD this year but the same is also true for at least some of the iPhone prices (in USD) in Europe.

 

[XboxEvolved]

Just want to point out that the prices for their most popular products, the Macbooks, and iMacs are actually lower now with or without inflation than the majority of the equivalent products at almost any other point in their history.

Where Apple seems to be increasing prices the most is on low-volume products such as the Mac Mini and Pro, the Studio's closest equal from the past would be the G4 Cube. Its starting cost was $1800 (about 3100 today) while the Mac Studio starts at $2k. Like the Cube though, I feel like the Studio will be a short-lived product. The Pro however is incredibly overpriced compared to say, my first Mac, a PowerMac G4 533 Mhz Digital Audio. Adjusted for inflation, the PowerMacG4 comes in still at much cheaper than the starting cost of a Pro. I think with workstation computers these prices are the norm though.

Apple may be raising prices in some countries but I think the same can be said for Microsoft, Dell, HP, Sony, Samsung, etc. It's definitely a little greed, but a lot of it is also inflation.

 

[Pixeditor]

Another record for Apple in Q4 2022, with 90.1billion revenue and astonishing profit of 20.7 billion. Apple doesn’t have new products in the recent years, just some marginal improvements here and there (bigger screen, better camera and etc). To keep its revenue growth, Apple hikes price directly or indirectly. Even TV+, which only has a handful of shows, got a 40% hike. I am still loyal to Apple products, but I am unhappy that price keeps going up (much higher than inflation) with only marginal improvements. Is Apple getting greedy? What do you think?

Perish the thought Apple is accused of ‘Greed’….but please explain what justifies a 40% increase on ANYTHING? It’s not inflation IMHO but sheer price gouging.

 

[usagora]

Perish the thought Apple is accused of ‘Greed’….but please explain what justifies a 40% increase on ANYTHING? It’s not inflation IMHO but sheer price gouging.

Price gouging would be when a retailer or service provider drastically increases prices of essential goods or services to take advantage people's needs during times of high demand (e.g. hand sanitizer during the pandemic). Apple products and services are not essential goods or services; they are luxuries. Apple needs no justification other than enough people will pay the price to make it more profitable than it was at the previous pricing.

 

[monstermash]

Perish the thought Apple is accused of ‘Greed’….but please explain what justifies a 40% increase on ANYTHING? It’s not inflation IMHO but sheer price gouging.

Absolutely nothing wrong with charging a price that the market will bear.

Don't want to pay? Don't buy. Apple produces nothing that is essential to life.

 

[compwiz1202]

Perish the thought Apple is accused of ‘Greed’….but please explain what justifies a 40% increase on ANYTHING? It’s not inflation IMHO but sheer price gouging.

Yes it's the % increases and the frequency

 

[webkit]

Perish the thought Apple is accused of ‘Greed’….but please explain what justifies a 40% increase on ANYTHING? It’s not inflation IMHO but sheer price gouging.

By definition, it's simply not price gouging.

Regarding the 40% increase, that was after three years of no price increases. The increase actually comes out to around 12% per year average PLUS there has been an increase in available content during the time so it's arguably a bigger/better service than it was in 2019.

Is it worth the $6.99/month? That's up to subscribers to decide but even at $6.99/month it's still notably cheaper than ad-free versions of Disney+, HBO Max, Hulu, Netflix, and others.

 

[monstermash]

By definition, it's simply not price gouging.

Regarding the 40% increase, that was after three years of no price increases. The increase actually comes out to around 12% per year average PLUS there has been an increase in available content during the time so it's arguably a bigger/better service than it was in 2019.

Is it worth the $6.99/month? That's up to subscribers to decide but even at $6.99/month it's still notably cheaper than ad-free versions of Disney+, HBO Max, Hulu, Netflix, and others.

Disney cost less when you buy it annually. I'm paying $80/year which is 6.66/month.

But that was at last buy...maybe their price has gone up.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

I wasn’t happy with the price hikes and the two devices I have bought since September have both been last years models. This was my way of having an upgrade but with a more reasonable cost. I think I am going to adopt this strategy each time I get an iPhone every couple of years.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

The only people who need to "cut back" on $20-$30/month expenditures are the ones who are foolishly living at or above their means (rather than well below), or those who suffer a significant setback, such as job loss. But given that employers are practically falling all over themselves to hire people at ridiculous rates, that shouldn't be much of a problem for very long....except for those who feel they are too good to have to work and feel entitled to live off the backs of those who do.

Local convenience store, in my low cost of living area, is hiring at $17/hr. I can't imagine they're all that picky about who they get either.

I find your comment here absolutely out of touch. The cost of everything has gone up and it doesn’t matter how well off people are, everyone is cutting back on their spending right now as a reaction. I don’t know a single person who is not watching what they spend and looking to save money wherever possible. My monthly energy bill has gone from £88 in May to over £400 now. My wife and I are on pretty good salaries and we are making sure as much of our money is in the bank as possible. Our weekly food bill is £30+ more than it was a few months ago and diesel is again £1.90 a litre. Apple putting their prices up this year is to be expected but I’ve not bothered with any of their new releases whether I realistically could afford to or not. Why should I? I’ll save my money and use it on things that really matter, thanks.

 

[webkit]

Disney cost less when you buy it annually. I'm paying $80/year which is 6.66/month.

But that was at last buy...maybe their price has gone up.

The ad-free Disney+ price is going up next month to $10.99/month or $109.99/year.

 

[Andeddu]

The ad-free Disney+ price is going up next month to $10.99/month or $109.99/year.

Damn, after Andor is finished I’ll have to rethink being subscribed to them! I’ll end up on a rotation again between Netflix, Prime and Disney+.

 

[webkit]

Damn, after Andor is finished I’ll have to rethink being subscribed to them! I’ll end up on a rotation again between Netflix, Prime and Disney+.

If you don't mind watching a few ads, Disney+ is also launching a new ad-supported plan next month for $7.99/month.

 

[Andeddu]

If you don't mind watching a few ads, Disney+ is also launching a new ad-supported plan next month for $7.99/month.

I might give that a go. The ads on Prime are not very intrusive so far. I’ll take an ad before the show and after, but not in between.

 

[monstermash]

The ad-free Disney+ price is going up next month to $10.99/month or $109.99/year.

I wonder if I can renew early.

 

[monstermash]

If you don't mind watching a few ads, Disney+ is also launching a new ad-supported plan next month for $7.99/month.

Ads suck.

I hate ads.

They virtually never advertise anything i am even REMOTELY interested in.

It is amazing to me how much money is spent on ads.

 

[King of Ehrenfeld]

I think the items in the questions are not clear-cut enough from each other. I chose 3 though. I'm buying a new phone first time in 6 years, so it doesn't matter to me that new models each year come out with only marginal upgrades. Compared to the models from a couple of years earlier, it is always a significant upgrade, and that's the cycle in which most people replace their phones anyway. I think it's reasonable and realistic that phones don't come out with jaw dropping changes every year. That way they can also test new functions and gradually optimize new features. It's up to us to decide when to buy one at the end. One thing I'm particularly not satisfied with is the enormous extra charge for more storage though

 

[iphonehype]

Another record for Apple in Q4 2022, with 90.1billion revenue and astonishing profit of 20.7 billion. Apple doesn’t have new products in the recent years, just some marginal improvements here and there (bigger screen, better camera and etc). To keep its revenue growth, Apple hikes price directly or indirectly. Even TV+, which only has a handful of shows, got a 40% hike. I am still loyal to Apple products, but I am unhappy that price keeps going up (much higher than inflation) with only marginal improvements. Is Apple getting greedy? What do you think?

Everything is going up. Not just Apple.

 

[webkit]

Ads suck.

I hate ads.

They virtually never advertise anything i am even REMOTELY interested in.

It is amazing to me how much money is spent on ads.

Let advertisers track you (more), then they'll be able to show relevant ads.

 

[monstermash]

Let advertisers track you (more), then they'll be able to show relevant ads.

I invite them to track me. Track all they want!! They must totally suck at tracking though.

 

[Dominican]

iPhone price been same since last year

 

[webkit]

I invite them to track me. Track all they want!! They must totally suck at tracking though.

It's kind of a no-win situation for some advertisers. People complain about not seeing relevant ads so advertisers use tracking technology to better target ads but then people complain about being tracked too much and/or use anti-tracking software which can mean less relevant ads.

 

[webkit]

iPhone price been same since last year

Or even longer than that depending on model and county where being sold.

The iPhone Pro and Pro Max models haven't seen U.S. price increases (in fact, 256GB and 512GB versions are actually $50 cheaper) since they were introduced in 2019.