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iPhone X Who to blame for Apple's high prices?

Ralfi

Ralfi

macrumors 601
Original poster
Dec 22, 2016
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Australia
People are free to do what they want of course, but i'm pointing out my reasoning as to why Apple felt they could keep the price of the Xs the same as last years X, whilst also removing the Lightning-Headphone jack adaptor & excluding a fast charger in the box.

It's the people that update every year.......& especially those who are going from the X to the Xs. These are the ones who have the least reason to 'upgrade' yet they keep doing it, help boost sales & encourage Apple to keep those exorbitant prices.

The X was Apple's way of testing the waters - 'let's set a benchmark for an iPhone's RRP & see if the fish bite'..............& they got nibbles alright........

& here we are.........no price drops for an 'S' model, even at that record breaking asking price of 2017 &, to rub it in, no dongle for the headphone jack (which doesn't bother me personally btw) & no class-matching fast-charging brick.

In your opinion, what's to blame for the high pricing Apple seems to have made standard now?
 
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gurase said:
Payment plans. It’s easier to accept price creep when it’s spread out over 24 months.
Click to expand...

I have to agree here. When you see a lump sum for something and then broken down substantially into smaller payments, the consumer will focus on the smaller payments because they justify in their mind that they can afford that versus paying the full amount as a whole. Carriers want to make the transition to make the monthly payments as easy as possible, and if you notice, they focus on letting the customer know “It’s only 24 easy monthly payments.”
 
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I think it may also have something to do with longer lasting devices... sell a phone that is trash in 2 years for $650 versus sell a phone that is still in good shape after 4 years ($1099)... I wouldn’t imagine the $650 price point would be sustainable with much better hardware.
 
It’s easier now to pay on monthly plans and even though my Xs max is £150 more than x it’s only £6 more a month on contract and for me that’s nothing. Even with higher price points it’s not a big deal when you do upgrade each year
 
Combination of things. Apple pushing the prices up when people will pay. Installment plans when its only $40/month; to go up to a max was like $4-5 more per month.

And phones do last longer; if you look up the data in most countries the most popular phone in 2018 as an iphone 6, 6S or 7 (and their plus variants). 8 series and X were near the bottom of the list. So people are keeping older phones longer. https://deviceatlas.com/blog/most-popular-iphones

Even if the US the 7 and 7 Plus usage are double both the 8 series and X. 22% of people are still using a 7 series (7 or 7 Plus).
 
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penajmz said:
We are to blame, the people that keep buying them. If we stopped, they'd know something would need to change. until that day, they'll keep doing it, why not?
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Exactly, they push the prices little by little. If people pay it, no problem. They push a little more next time, if people still buy it, Tim is just grinning :D
Taking phones on installment plans, no no.
Taking loans on homes, yes. That's it.
 
Both Apple for taking advantage and consumers for putting up with it. Yes, I am a bit of a hypocrite for ordering an XS despite it having ******** like no fast charger for the most expensive phone I’ve ever bought. Depending on how I get on with it and how it compares to last year’s model in reviews I might return it though.
 
Ok, thinking more on this, the X was such a big leap for those on the non-plus/plus who wanted a middle-ground, that people on 1 year old phones understandably had reason to upgrade. Those on 2, 3 or more year old phones had even more reason to upgrade, so it's not hard to see why it sold so well.

I think this years "S" models are a chance for consumers to say 'no more, Apple'.

Next years iPhones can't possibly match this years prices as it'll be the 3rd iteration of the Face ID-era iPhone. Only the people can force the price down.

If you own an X, unless you want a screen size upgrade to the Max, by not shelling out $$ for the Xs, you'll be helping lower prices in future imo.
 
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I’d say lack of any true competition in the smartphone market outside of the Apple / Google duopoly sure doesn’t help.

Right now it’s either iPhones or Androids. If you don’t like the drawbacks that come with Android devices (Google tracking you, slow security updates outside of Pixels / One+, lack of dedicated retail stores for service, etc) you’re pretty much have to suck it up and pay Apples exorbitant prices.

Of course, consumers could just buy the older devices like the 7/8/etc and save $$$... but with smartphones now people’s primary computing device a lot of people don’t like it but accept paying high prices for a tool they for hours and hours on a daily basis.
 
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They didn't push the entry level price "little by little". The base iPhone 8 is £600 (£700 for the Plus), while the base iPhone Xr is £750. That's where the big hike has happened: if you want this year's model the minimum price is 25% higher than a year ago.

And sure, the reason is that people still buy them at these prices. And if you are invested in iOS they are a monopoly supplier.
 
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Whilst the X didn’t sell as well as they thought it would, slashing component orders in half showed that, they still shifted a ton of them and made massive profit from them..

That’s why they have the high prices, we still pay them. They proved more then enough the market will happily pay a grand for an iPhone.

But...........

This weeks keynote saw a marked massive change that I doubt many picked up on, Apple have literally guaranteed your shiny new iPhone will last for several years. That’s also why they have increased the price because their sales will drop over time.
 
Definitely people who upgrade every year. Or even twice a year. Ive seen way too many posts here complaining about high prices and in the same post admitting to continue sucking apple’s wood with their 1tb xs maxipad pre order
 
gurase said:
Payment plans. It’s easier to accept price creep when it’s spread out over 24 months.
Click to expand...

I agree. Price a Creep is a huge issue. Consumers see it as a a budgeted expense now. No different than groceries, utilities, etc....

Can’t forget that some actually pay cash for these insanely expensive cell phones.

I think this launch is going to be a wake up for Apple. I see a lot of Xs Max orders. None of my friends with a X that do not want the 6.5” size are upgrading. I know quite a few people with older devices waiting for the XR.

By Q3 2019 the XR will be over 65% of total sales. :apple:
 
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1.) The lease/installment plans the carriers offer have essentially converted having the latest iPhone into a subscription service. To me, I use my iPhone so much that having the latest model is one of the most justifiable expenses I have.

2.) Capitalism man. Apple makes a killer product that people love and are willing to pay for. They are a business and should always strive to optimize price strategies in pursuit of profit. If consumers don’t like it they can choose a different brand. No different than criticizing a luxury car maker for selling cars for too much money. Not everyone can afford a BMW 5 Series, so that’s why there’s the Chevy Malibu.
 
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The world economy functions by what's called "demand side" forces. Meaning, even if the iPhone cost 1 penny to make, as long as people are willing to pay more, the price will go up, until the total opportunity cost of lost sales for high prices outweighs the total marginal gains from price increases.
 
apple understands that people will be upgraded less often wi the level that phones are at nowadays. phones dont slow down after 2-3 years anymore. a 7 and 7+ are more then capable nowadays and will be fine 2-3 years from now so what is that 5-6 year old phones still being very capable.
People will update less often more like computers its already starting just look at how many 6s are still around and totally fine.
I personally do not plan on upgrading unless there is a huge feature I want in the next 2-4 years.
I was on the subsidy every two years till the 7 + when I got put on every year and got the X last year. Only reason im upgrading now is the plus size and I dont see myself getting a new phone for a while after this.
 
$1249 over 24 months is $52 a month. a lot of people including me sells their old device when new one comes out. i should be able to easily sell the XS Max for around 750-800 next year. that means I only paid around 400-500 for the phone. and maybe even have a little money pocketed from selling.
 
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Ralfi said:
In your opinion, what's to blame for the high pricing Apple seems to have made standard now?
Click to expand...
In my opinion, calling it “blame” is just an appeal to emotion and “high pricing” is merely opinion.

The prices and features are ultimately a product of supply and demand. Period. Anyone who buys a product is contributing to demand and contributing to supporting the price.

Realistically, whenever supply runs short, it’s an indication that the price is too low and certainly not that it is too high.

Bottom line, in my opinion, complaining that someone is to “blame” for making the price higher than one wants it to be is implicitly blaming the market that made devices like this available in the first place.
 
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Well of course we consumers are to blame. We vote with our dollars. If no one bought a $1000 phone, you better believe the price would drop. In fact, didn’t that happen with the very first iPhone?
 
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