Other The Way For Apple To Truly Win The Phone Game Globally

[Future-Proof]

Everyone (pretty much) who’s used a recent (6s or newer) iPhone extensively just knows how much better it is than the competition. I keep a modern android device around just to compare the differences and even Android 8 (Oreo) still after all these years of development feels like Beta software.

So, the question is why hasn’t the iPhone already won the global smartphone arms race for the majority of customers?

Because the iPhone is sold at a premium, too expensive for the average Joe across the world. And, in fact the pricing has gotten worse with time not better.

The original iPhone was sold for $499 USD, what would be considered midrange today. Since then Apple has, erroneously (when you consider the opposite has occurred to PC prices over time), priced their phones further out of reach of the vast majority of price-conscious potential customers worldwide who do not yet know just how much better iPhones truly are.

Source: https://venturebeat.com/2017/09/12/iphone-prices-from-the-original-to-iphone-x/

So, my proposal to Apple would be, that to completely dominate the competition and put iPhones into the hands of the masses globally (eg emerging markets) is to make a cheap iPhone. Midrange and expensive are already covered, so if Apple could mass produce a $200 USD iPhone capable of doing 85% of what other iPhones can do they would tap into the market of people who do not yet know just how Beta Android software is in comparison, even if they designed this cheap iOS device with limitations in order to get the converted “believer” to upgrade when they can afford to...

 

[tobefirst ⚽️]

The original 8GB iPhone sold for $599 (which they discounted to $399 a month after launch), but that still required a 2-year contract. The subsidy was worth, if I recall, around $200, so the phone was actually a $799 (discounted to $599) phone.

 

[Shanghaichica]

Apple don’t need to win the global market. They are winning in the profits market. Look how few phones Apple sell in comparison to the combined android OEMs yet Apple makes more money than them combined. Of course Apple would like to sell more devices but I don’t think they are interested in competing in bargain basement territory.

 

[BugeyeSTI]

iPhone has always been a premium phone along with the price. When the first iPhone came out it was $599 on contract, the Motorola Razr was around $100 or less on contract.. $599 back then is right inline with what you’d spend on an iPhone 8 in today’s dollars

 

[DevinNj]

Everyone (pretty much) who’s used a recent (6s or newer) iPhone extensively just knows how much better it is than the competition. I keep a modern android device around just to compare the differences and even Android 8 (Oreo) still after all these years of development feels like Beta software.

So, the question is why hasn’t the iPhone already won the global smartphone arms race for the majority of customers?

Because the iPhone is sold at a premium, too expensive for the average Joe across the world. And, in fact the pricing has gotten worse with time not better.

The original iPhone was sold for $499 USD, what would be considered midrange today. Since then Apple has, erroneously (when you consider the opposite has occurred to PC prices over time), priced their phones further out of reach of the vast majority of price-conscious potential customers worldwide who do not yet know just how much better iPhones truly are.

Source: https://venturebeat.com/2017/09/12/iphone-prices-from-the-original-to-iphone-x/

So, my proposal to Apple would be, that to completely dominate the competition and put iPhones into the hands of the masses globally (eg emerging markets) is to make a cheap iPhone. Midrange and expensive are already covered, so if Apple could mass produce a $200 USD iPhone capable of doing 85% of what other iPhones can do they would tap into the market of people who do not yet know just how Beta Android software is in comparison, even if they designed this cheap iOS device with limitations in order to get the converted “believer” to upgrade when they can afford to...

It's called the iPhone SE, and it pretty much did dominate the cheap smartphone category.

 

[JPack]

As the smartphone becomes mature, Apple will need to target more emerging markets to win the profits game.

Countries in Emerging Asia (India, Indonesia, Philippines, Bangladesh, etc.) have a combined population of nearly 2.5 billion. Most of them cannot afford iPhone as Emerging Asia has a smartphone ASP of $150-$180.

Apple needs a smartphone in the $250 range to really capture first time smartphone users. Poor market penetration of the iPhone in Emerging Asia suggests iPhone SE remains unaffordable for that region.

iPhone SE had a BOM of $160 back in 2016. It's a matter of time before Apple can build an iPhone with a BOM of $100 in order to retail for $250.

The low hanging fruit including North America, Western Europe, and China have already been taken. Replacement cycles are becoming longer in those countries. It's tough to rely on another generation leap like iPhone X to carry Apple through the next decade.

 

[eyoungren]

Everyone (pretty much) who’s used a recent (6s or newer) iPhone extensively just knows how much better it is than the competition.

No. I don't know.

I have a 6s+ but I got it because I was upgrading from a 6+ when I ported out and I needed a phone to replace the one I turned in.

I got a 6+ because I wanted an upgrade out of my carrier - not because I wanted the phone with the fugly camera bump and the fugly antenna lines.

The antenna lines went away with the 7/7+, but the bump has only gotten bigger while my satisfaction with iPhone and iOS has gotten less and less. That all started with iOS 7 and the continued decline of jailbreaking (which I did to make iOS functional to me).

I've had an iPhone since 2012 and Android back then stunk. But in the last 6 years I've seen enough of an improvement that this is where my wife and I are going this year.

So 'better' is subjective.