Other iPhone price rise uk

[craigio85]

At retail the Note 9 is comparable on price but on contract it’s significantly cheaper I’ve found.

Same. All Android phone prices for contracts drop much faster. This was one of the factors that led to me moving back to Android in 2013. Soon regretted it when, barely six months in, it felt like my phone was already obsolete because software upgrades just weren’t coming. That was and will remain my last network contract.

 

[FFR]

I’m waiting for the phone to come out/reviews so I can at least see if the camera upgrades are worth upgrading early. Otherwise I’ll wait until December when my yearly upgrade is due. I think I will probably end up ordering it next weekend though.
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The note 9 pricing is nowhere near as bad as Apple’s.

The base note 9 is only £899 and last year the note 8was £879. So it’s only a £21 increase.

The note 9 with 512GB is only £1099 which is £350 cheaper than the 512GB iPhone max.

Even the 512GB note 9 is cheaper than my 256GB 2017 iPhone X.

Apple are expensive but they have been screwing us over with pricing since Brexit. None of the other tech companies took advantage of Brexit like Apple have.

I get discount with O2 because I work for the NHS which is why I stay with them. This year I’ll get the 512GB max and if there aren’t any compelling reasons to upgrade next year I’ll be keeping it for a few years. The only real reason why I’m upgrading this year is for a bigger screen.

That’s because note 9 uses cheaper components.

Such as:
512 gb of ufs storage is cheaper than 512 gb of nvme.
10 ne vs 7nm processor with an 8 core npu
Aluminum vs stainless steel
2d facial recognition vs 3D facial recognition
6.4 inch display bezeled vs 6.5 inch Edge to edge bezeless display
No dual sim
Cant record 4K for more than 5 min
Does not support Dolby vision.

I feel that the xs max merits more than an extra £350 over the note 9.

In fact I feel that the note 9 is completely overpriced for what it offers and sales reflect that.

Enjoy whatever device you finally land on.

 

[apolloa]

I'm not sure I understand your point. I could argue the UK consumer has 'shunned' more expensive cars. Mercedes, BMW and Audi are doomed - prices are obscene when you can buy a perfectly good car for less than a quarter of their prices. Those who aspire to those brands and can afford them buy, those who don't and can't buy something cheaper. That's how it works. Apple is not a charity - it can price its phones any way it wishes.

I'm amazed at the whinging I've seen on forums about Apple's pricing for iPhones. The Xs is the same price as last year's X, for goodness sake - and they are selling phones all the way down to £449 for the iPhone 7.

Car analogies cannot be used to compare, in the U.K. people who drive around in posh German cars will either keep it for a long time of several years, have it as a business car, have it on PCP where they pay a low amount for three years then pay of a several thousand lump sum or trade to the new model and repeat and this is what the majority do, hence they get a new car every three years but never actually own it.

With phones SIM free and Pay As You Go are just as popular as contracts. And I doubt many will accept a three year contract! It’s a different market financially and mentally in how people approach the buying of devices.

 

[FastLaneJB]

The time when almost everyone but the poorest people could afford the flagship devices have long since past. The UK consumer is now forced to buy within their means and accept we cannot all have the BMW / Mercedes model phone.

Apple’s done very well by people that buy the older models. They are still stellar devices considering how iOS 12 has optimised those plus the A series SoC’s being so far ahead of Android they likely are mostly just as quick as current Android flagships despite being 1 - 2 years old. It’s not the end of the world to not have the latest model and people are realising / accepting this.

I still think it’s a mix of Brexit, component prices just as much as Apple upping their margins a bit. But ultimately they have the lower margin offerings if you want them as well. BMW have much larger margins on a 7 series than a 1 series. It’s how the world works.

I’ve ordered a XS Max 512GB by the way. Generally I run my 256GB iPhone around half full however when I travel I’ll download some box sets to the phone locally which takes me towards the limit. Normally it’s more than what I have time to watch but also don’t know if I’ll like that show or not. So honestly I’ve never quite felt 256GB has been a problem but I’m not that worried on the cost so just went bigger anyway. Just means I can stash more media locally still.

 

[apolloa]

For those coming up with reasons for he price increase, your pretty much all wrong.
It’s simple to see, the smart phone market is slowing down, Apple sold less iPhones last year yet made record profits. It is massively increasing its pricing to ensure it keeps record profits amidst slowing sales. That’s all.

Brexit was nothing more then a pure excuse, component costs also do not really come into it when your buying them in the millions and millions.

They have looked at the market, realised people are not going to upgrade their phones as much. Seen that will reduce sales accordingly and so have increased prices to suite.

 

[Macalicious2011]

I’ll most likely do a 3 year contract with O2 which will help reducing my bill and just stick with the phone.

I still have about 120 GB available on my 256GB phone and I pay for iCloud storage and google drive space. I would just get the 512GB in case I end up keeping it for a few years.

While year and year upgrades by both Samsung and Apple are incremental, there will be plenty of reasons to upgrade in the next 2 years.

• FaceID will likely work with the phone flat on the table and inevitably the phone will wake up and unlock the second you pick it up and raise it to your face.

• In 12 months the iPhone will have had 12Megapixels and 2x zoom for three years. This is overdue a bump to kill the need for an average Joe to buy a DSLR.

• Fast charging can get even faster and so can Apple contactless payment.

Given that you are gadget enthusiast I doubt you will be happy to use a Max as your daily driver for 3 years while overlooking big camera updates.

 

[FastLaneJB]

For those coming up with reasons for he price increase, your pretty much all wrong.
It’s simple to see, the smart phone market is slowing down, Apple sold less iPhones last year yet made record profits. It is massively increasing its pricing to ensure it keeps record profits amidst slowing sales. That’s all.

Brexit was nothing more then a pure excuse, component costs also do not really come into it when your buying them in the millions and millions.

They have looked at the market, realised people are not going to upgrade their phones as much. Seen that will reduce sales accordingly and so have increased prices to suite.

That’s not right either though. Their growth slowed but they still sold more iPhones than they did the previous year. They are making most of their profit growth currently off services.

Obviously I’m not arguing that the top end models have a bigger profit margin, that’s always the case in any industry really because you sell less. You’ve got to spread your R&D costs and so on across a smaller number of sales. Plus ultimately you know the people who buy those products can afford it so are prepared to pay that bit more.

I still stand by the drop in our exchange rate plus the higher cost of components are also contributing to this. It’s a mixture of many factors.

 

[apolloa]

That’s not right either though. Their growth slowed but they still sold more iPhones than they did the previous year. They are making most of their profit growth currently off services.

Obviously I’m not arguing that the top end models have a bigger profit margin, that’s always the case in any industry really because you sell less. You’ve got to spread your R&D costs and so on across a smaller number of sales. Plus ultimately you know the people who buy those products can afford it so are prepared to pay that bit more.

I still stand by the drop in our exchange rate plus the higher cost of components are also contributing to this. It’s a mixture of many factors.

Actually they sold less iPhones in 2017 then 2016:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42909989

R&D also does not inflate the price in the way Apple has. You’ve been roped in by the hyperbole, it’s purely doesn’t to profits and less sales, nothing more.

 

[FastLaneJB]

Actually they sold less iPhones in 2017 then 2016:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42909989

R&D also does not inflate the price in the way Apple has. You’ve been roped in by the hyperbole, it’s purely doesn’t to profits and less sales, nothing more.

OK that’s quite old data. Current data has sales quarter on quarter doing better than 2017 despite the higher cost of the iPhone X. I think it likely was just dropping off because they’d used the same design for so long and had nothing to excite people until the X.

Personally I don’t think the XS and XS Max are major updates at all but maybe the bigger screen will help them sell a good amount regardless. It’ll be the 10R though I suspect that will be the big seller of the new phones. It’s almost as good for much cheaper.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

The iPhone X was apparently the eighth best selling iPhone in the UK with the 7 being the most popular. I have no idea how many iPhones were sold but quite a few articles including an interview with the owner of CPW on the BBC suggest a fall of 25% in new upgrades.

 

[apolloa]

OK that’s quite old data. Current data has sales quarter on quarter doing better than 2017 despite the higher cost of the iPhone X. I think it likely was just dropping off because they’d used the same design for so long and had nothing to excite people until the X.

Personally I don’t think the XS and XS Max are major updates at all but maybe the bigger screen will help them sell a good amount regardless. It’ll be the 10R though I suspect that will be the big seller of the new phones. It’s almost as good for much cheaper.

Just because it’s in your opinion older data does not make it any less valid.
People just aren’t rushing out to buy the latest and greatest iPhone anymore, did you miss the part of the keynote where Apple told you it will make your iPhone last for several years?
That means less sales, fact, so they will increase prices to suite.

Personally I’m fine with increased prices for something that’ll last a lot longer and help save the planet that bit more.

The XR will easily be the biggest seller, it’s probably also why they have reduced the prices of the older devices so much.

 

[FastLaneJB]

Just because it’s in your opinion older data does not make it any less valid.
People just aren’t rushing out to buy the latest and greatest iPhone anymore, did you miss the part of the keynote where Apple told you it will make your iPhone last for several years?
That means less sales, fact, so they will increase prices to suite.

Personally I’m fine with increased prices for something that’ll last a lot longer and help save the planet that bit more.

The XR will easily be the biggest seller, it’s probably also why they have reduced the prices of the older devices so much.

I’m not saying older data is not valid but merely saying newer data suggests a reverse though modest. I’m quite happy to accept that in general it’s about static overall.

Obviously those are global figures. No idea what they are in the UK but I can only imagine they’ve dropped off as people have been made poorer in real terms since we voted for Brexit. The worse possibility is still to come there.

Phones do last longer. They’ve long since reached the fast enough, good enough camera, etc. level. Same as the PC market declined once they were quick enough. It’ll be good for the environment hopefully.

 

[apolloa]

I’m not saying older data is not valid but merely saying newer data suggests a reverse though modest. I’m quite happy to accept that in general it’s about static overall.

Obviously those are global figures. No idea what they are in the UK but I can only imagine they’ve dropped off as people have been made poorer in real terms since we voted for Brexit. The worse possibility is still to come there.

Phones do last longer. They’ve long since reached the fast enough, good enough camera, etc. level. Same as the PC market declined once they were quick enough. It’ll be good for the environment hopefully.

What the..??? NO ONE has been made poorer due to Brexit! In real terms or itherwise! No one! Employment is the highest it’s been for years..
Sounds like you been sucked right in by some of that project fear balony.

 

[FastLaneJB]

What the..??? NO ONE has been made poorer due to Brexit! In real terms or itherwise! No one! Employment is the highest it’s been for years..
Sounds like you been sucked right in by some of that project fear balony.

Wage growth is not matching price rises. Consumers are still spending hard of course, they are just borrowing a lot of money to do so.

Don’t tell me you still think all of this is going to turn out to be a benefit for us? Maybe I need to check your IP address to see if your Russian

 

[akash.nu]

Wage growth is not matching price rises. Consumers are still spending hard of course, they are just borrowing a lot of money to do so.

Don’t tell me you still think all of this is going to turn out to be a benefit for us? Maybe I need to check your IP address to see if your Russian

Things haven’t exactly fallen apart yet, has it?! Even though I voted against Brexit but the honest truth is nobody knew what to expect either way.

 

[FastLaneJB]

Things haven’t exactly fallen apart yet, has it?! Even though I voted against Brexit but the honest truth is nobody knew what to expect either way.

No I agree. It’s not fallen apart yet but we haven’t left yet. However we’ve still forced the pound to drop heavily vs other currencies causing items we buy, like the iPhone to be more expensive. It’s now sold dollar = pound however before Brexit that wasn’t the case.

For a country that mainly imports vs exports this doesn’t help us.

 

[apolloa]

Wage growth is not matching price rises. Consumers are still spending hard of course, they are just borrowing a lot of money to do so.

Don’t tell me you still think all of this is going to turn out to be a benefit for us? Maybe I need to check your IP address to see if your Russian

A discussion for another thread.. and nope, a British born and bred. And yes it’ll benefit us greatly. But not discussing it in depth here...

 

[FastLaneJB]

A discussion for another thread.. and nope, a British born and bred. And yes it’ll benefit us greatly. But not discussing it in depth here...

Fair enough. Each have our own opinions but can agree doesn’t belong in this thread.

 

[ssmed]

Because value of money is subjective ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

For the less well-off person perhaps living in a 'Apple' home and previously owning a now deprecated handset and perhaps where there is some peer pressure to have an iPhone, the absence of something cheap and cheerful like the wonderful SE is rather painful. It is the lack of range that upsets me not the very high price of the flagship model. £1500 seems outrageous for a phone to me. You could probably get a satellite phone for that price and not have the outrage of no signal every third mile in the countryside.

 

[FFR]

For the less well-off person perhaps living in a 'Apple' home and previously owning a now deprecated handset and perhaps where there is some peer pressure to have an iPhone, the absence of something cheap and cheerful like the wonderful SE is rather painful. It is the lack of range that upsets me not the very high price of the flagship model. £1500 seems outrageous for a phone to me. You could probably get a satellite phone for that price and not have the outrage of no signal every third mile in the countryside.

You could, but satellite phone service is rather expensive, used to have an iridium back in the day.

Don’t know why your focusing on £1500?

There are iPhones in a range of prices.

 

[FastLaneJB]

For the less well-off person perhaps living in a 'Apple' home and previously owning a now deprecated handset and perhaps where there is some peer pressure to have an iPhone, the absence of something cheap and cheerful like the wonderful SE is rather painful. It is the lack of range that upsets me not the very high price of the flagship model. £1500 seems outrageous for a phone to me. You could probably get a satellite phone for that price and not have the outrage of no signal every third mile in the countryside.

I don’t think you can play Candy Crush on a satellite phone. Don’t think most people buy their phone to make phone calls

It is a shame they killed off the SE but the hardware was old. The lowest price model in the range is its replacement now. Yes it costs a bit more but so do all the models, nothing to say if a new SE didn’t arrive it wouldn’t have been bumped in price as well.

 

[Applemaniac7]

The prices have got obscene this last couple of years and to be honest I think the UK consumer has largely shunned the more expensive smartphones. The iPhone X was reportedly the eighth best selling iPhone over the past year with the iPhone 7 selling better than any other model. This suggests people are reacting to higher prices and seeing value in older models that essentially do the same thing.

This year when I viewed my upgrade options I saw I could get the XS for £45p/m but soon realised that’s on a 36 month contract! The homepage on O2 and EE are now advertising three year contracts in order to keep prices down and tempt people back into buying the latest models. Apple have hiked prices, pre brexit hasn’t helped and in turn I think this has changed buying trends for devices that change very little year on year. I was holding out for the XR but having seen it at launch I’ve realised it makes more sense buying the 8. If you can afford these new status symbols then great, go for it and enjoy, but I think it’s got rather out of hand and it’s killing the buzz for new releases. It’ll reach a climax though at some point and this year I think Apple will see their cheaper phones will be more popular with the mainstream.

Some good points until you referred to them as status symbols.. really..?

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Some good points until you referred to them as status symbols.. really..?

Tongue in cheek and reference to my many arguments on here with people who claim they are status symbols.

 

[Applemaniac7]

Tongue in cheek and reference to my many arguments on here with people who claim they are status symbols.

I kinda thought as much.. if folk think items that you can buy for literally 10s of pounds/dollars a month portray some sort of status above the norm.. I seriously advise having a good think about what the term status means?

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

I kinda thought as much.. if folk think items that you can buy for literally 10s of pounds/dollars a month portray some sort of status above the norm.. I seriously advise having a good think about what the term status means?

I’ve never classed a mobile phone as a status symbol due to the fact they are so easy to obtain due to credit cards and contract plans. An iPhone XS is hardly in the same class as a Patek Philippe for example lol.