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

[x-evil-x]

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?

I dont think they really will maybe by 100$ but thats about it they have the mid tier xr now so people will buy that if they think the grand phones are too much. less people will be upgrading from now on trust me. the whole market won't be as huge as it is till there are really new features we need.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Apple is creating products with prices that it thinks the free market can and will bare. I don't see anything wrong with that. If some don't like the pricing, don't buy.

 

[Ralfi]

I personally do not plan on upgrading unless there is a huge feature I want in the next 2-4 years

I don't upgrade for a singular feature any more. Phones have reached a plateau now, that I only care about software upgrades, making the UI as slick as possible.

In fact, didn’t that happen with the very first iPhone?

Perhaps (I can't recall). But i'm more referring to the Face ID era - since the X.

 

[x-evil-x]

I don't upgrade for a singular feature any more. Phones have reached a plateau now, that I only care about software upgrades, making the UI as slick as possible.


Perhaps (I can't recall). But i'm more referring to the Face ID era - since the X.

well there hasn't been that feature yet. if phone companies come out with something revolutionary it will drive sales from here on. I dont see people upgraded much in the next few years unless there's something pretty big or they break their phones.

 

[1144557]

Let's not pretend that Apple is alone here though. Cars are the same way, the average decent car is beyond the 20,000s now. And some model years there are minor changes and hundreds of dollars of increase in price.

Heck you can equip a Ford Mustang (not a Shelby) with not much difficulty to $50k these days. A few years ago (5-10) MAYBE you got into the high 30s

The lack of paying cash and financing/leasing makes the creep easier there too. I don't see needing a new car every 2 years, but people do it and at crazy $500-800/month cost too. So that $4/month increase in iphone cost is a drop in the bucket to most who are already living on payments for everything (car, mortgage/rent, utilities)

If there wasn't a plus size this year the S offers nothing I need; coming from someone who has upgraded every year without hesitation. But doing 95%+ of my business email on my phone the extra $4-5/month for screen real estate makes sense.

 

[Newtons Apple]

I bet we are all over paying by at least $100 just for Apple's generous return policies. People who go through one phone after another costs us all. Not saying you should not expect a great device but when you “think” your volume button may not sound right . . . . . .

I have owned every iPhone and never had to return a single one for a defect.

 

[FFR]

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.

What slashing of component orders ?

iPhone X sold over 63 million units, weren’t the estimates around 50 million units before the iPhone X launched.

Samsung was the only oem that confirmed slashing about 20 million units of the s9 due to lack of demand/sales.

 

[joeblow7777]

I dont think they really will maybe by 100$ but thats about it they have the mid tier xr now so people will buy that if they think the grand phones are too much. less people will be upgrading from now on trust me. the whole market won't be as huge as it is till there are really new features we need.

I don't upgrade for a singular feature any more. Phones have reached a plateau now, that I only care about software upgrades, making the UI as slick as possible.


Perhaps (I can't recall). But i'm more referring to the Face ID era - since the X.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that I think a price drop will happen. That’s my point, prices remain this high because more than enough people are obviously willing to pay. We consumers set the prices based on how much we are willing to pay, and clearly, speaking for consumers collectively, we haven’t reached the breaking point.

 

[steve62388]

Consumers decide the price of a product. It's basic economics.

Sometimes I have to explain to my friends and they just don't get it. They bought something for £1000 brand new, want to sell it on eBay and think it's worth £500. But if people only want to pay £50 for it then that's it's value.

Likewise if something costs £200 to produce but consumers are only prepared to pay £100, then that's it's value.

In Apple's case it's a bit like a cup of coffee. A basic cup of coffee might cost 20p to produce but if consumers are only willing to pay £1 then that's it's value. Make that a grande frappuccino with whipped cream and caramel sauce which only adds 5p to the production cost and if people are willing to pay £5 for it then that's what it's worth. Restaurants use the same principle with super sizing.

Otherwise shop somewhere else.

 

[Falhófnir]

Overall the X, XS and Max are more costly to manufacture, and will have associated R&D, shipping and marketing costs to also repay - Apple are finally pushing the envelope on the tech front as far as what they are including so the price has gone up. At the same time, the lower end models like the 7 and 8 are more like what Apple would previously have been offering at the top end, and also happen to be priced in line with that. I expect in a couple of generations this design will have bedded in and will start being offered at a more traditional price in the mid-high hundreds, by that point Apple will probably also have a new cutting edge model that will still be priced into the thousands.

 

[1144557]

And let's not forget that that $1,100 iPhone will be worth roughly $750-800 at the and of a year if current trends hold.

Meanwhile, that $1000 Samsung will be worth maybe $500-600 after a year considering they give out discounts and BOGO like candy devaluing them. Same with their Galaxies that are a bit cheaper; my guess is 50-60% of value.

She cost to own that iphone is sometimes cheaper than its counterpart; despite the higher initial cost

 

[aneftp]

Payment plans. It’s easier to accept price creep when it’s spread out over 24 months.

Yes but some people can get in financial trouble quickly. I’ve seen many complain their phone bills are $350 a month. Yet when I see the actual bill. Their real phone bill is $150-180 a month. But they have 3-4 installment at around $45 each that adds to the base phone bill.

Than u get into situation where people are fed up with carrier and want to switch. But they owe $2000 pay off for their 3 installment phones. They screwed.

 

[1144557]

Yes but some people can get in financial trouble quickly. I’ve seen many complain their phone bills are $350 a month. Yet when I see the actual bill. Their real phone bill is $150-180 a month. But they have 3-4 installment at around $45 each that adds to the base phone bill.

Than u get into situation where people are fed up with carrier and want to switch. But they owe $2000 pay off for their 3 installment phones. They screwed.

Well you can't fix stupid. Theyre the same people who guy is a school teacher maybe making $40-45k married with 2 kids and really thought that $500k house was a great idea because banks were giving loans to anyone basically.

At some point, common sense must say hmmm I can't reasonably afford this even if I can get it via payments/loan.

 

[The Game 161]

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.

I don’t think it will

All the phones that were released I’m sure will sell like crazy again. The max I think will sell a ton even with the price point.

 

[John webstar44]

I blame the customer if we all stop purchasing iPhones just for one year they will no doubt will drop prices.
Will that happen NO

 

[unobtainium]

To be honest I think it’s more complicated than most people will admit. Apple is greedy and always has been — how do you think they got their trillion dollar valuation? But at the same time, I don’t think they’ve increased their margins substantially on the X series. Rather, they’ve added more expensive technologies at a rapid pace over the past few generations in order to continually produce something “better and better”.

The dual cameras, the switch to glass and stainless steel, the larger displays, OLED, TrueDepth, larger base storage, continually pushing the envelope with A-series processors year after year. These things are expensive and Apple is going to hike prices to compensate until the market can no longer bear it. But I’m sure they know exactly what the market will bear. They have people researching that.

 

[brofkand]

Apple will only charge what people are willing to pay. If fewer people buy the new models at $750 or more, they'll cut prices. If they sell all the new phones they make, the next models will be more expensive. Eventually they'll figure out the top price people will pay for a phone.

It has nothing to do with manufacturing costs or anything like that. It's all about the price people are willing to pay. Apple has been just jamming features into the phones to attempt to justify the prices they charge. How many people actually use 3D Touch, Animoji, Slow Mo, Live Photos, etc? I'd imagine most of these features are not used very often by most iPhone purchasers.

 

[FFR]

And let's not forget that that $1,100 iPhone will be worth roughly $750-800 at the and of a year if current trends hold.

Meanwhile, that $1000 Samsung will be worth maybe $500-600 after a year considering they give out discounts and BOGO like candy devaluing them. Same with their Galaxies that are a bit cheaper; my guess is 50-60% of value.

She cost to own that iphone is sometimes cheaper than its counterpart; despite the higher initial cost

Just checked gumtree here in the UK,
Note 9 are Already going for around £600.

The descriptions are hilarious.
“Sticking with my iPhone”
“Can’t leave the iPhone”
“Need an iPhone”

Samsung phones don’t hold much value.

 

[1144557]

Just checked gumtree here in the UK,
Note 9 are Already going for around £600.

The descriptions are hilarious.
“Sticking with my iPhone”
“Can’t leave the iPhone”
“Need an iPhone”

Samsung phones don’t hold much value.

Unfortunately, no one sees beyond upfront cost when looking at value. "Buh buh it too expensives Apple SUCCCCKKSSSSSSSS!!!!"

Value is also resale unless it is something you buy intending to use until it is dead. Home appliances are like that; you buy once and intend to use them basically until they die or you sell the house. I don't know anyone who buys a fridge and has to upgrade it every 2/3/4/any years.

Other things like cars, phones, etc you must consider resale value in price, as you are not "out" that upfront cost necessarily at the end. You may also get more years out of an Apple product for that money, especially considering long support life.

The facts are that generally, you spend less in net money buying an Apple product even with its higher upfront cost than the competition.

 

[Deguello]

Unfortunately, no one sees beyond upfront cost when looking at value. "Buh buh it too expensives Apple SUCCCCKKSSSSSSSS!!!!"

Value is also resale unless it is something you buy intending to use until it is dead. Home appliances are like that; you buy once and intend to use them basically until they die or you sell the house. I don't know anyone who buys a fridge and has to upgrade it every 2/3/4/any years.

Cars, phone, etc you must consider resale value in price, as you are not "out" that upfront cost necessarily at the end.

The facts are that generally, you spend less in net money buying an Apple product even with its higher upfront cost than the competition.

My phone, like my computers, will be used until resale is so trivial it makes more sense to keep as an emergency backup than to sell it.

 

[1144557]

My phone, like my computers, will be used until resale is so trivial it makes more sense to keep as an emergency backup than to sell it.

Which is the rare case these days in technology and not the vast majority of cases.

But again, even so you get more years of support from iOS devices than any competitor with the option to keep it that long.

Could you imagine using a Galaxy S4 right now still on Android 5.0.1, its last update? Sure usable, but far from ideal. Meanwhile the 5S also released in 2013 still supports iOS12.

 

[Packers1958]

I am to blame. I have a tiny little room in the basement at Apple, with no windows and one flickering fluorescent light. I decide the prices, and on that day, I was feeling mean and miserable.

 

[Deguello]

Which is the rare case these days in technology and not the vast majority of cases.

But again, even so you get more years of support from iOS devices than any competitor with the option to keep it that long.

I think it’s getting more and more common the further we get away from carrier contracts and subsidized phones and the real cost of the phones becomes more apparent.

Obviously, there will be a lot of people who are just fine with a never-ending phone payment just like they are with car payments and will just roll into a new one rather than stick with a paid off one. Even so, we’ll see how long that continues once the cost gets closer to that of a MacBook.

 

[1050792]

Blame users who keep buying it every year.

 

[Ortiz83]

It’s always consumers. It always has been. If people don’t get that, then I feel sorry for you and your thinking. Don’t get mad though if consumers can afford them and pay for it. That doesn’t force you to buy it. Payments help consumers. But it’s the consumers choice to get the phone under a payment plan. Therefore still the consumer.