Yeah, Android has come along way. I mean in a good way too. As an iOS user, android stability has improved a lot, the customization is something that iOS will probably never allow. You only real tangible benefits that I appreciate with iOS is the security and iOS longevity/fluidity through support.
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iPhone XS Android flagships 1/2 the price of iPhone, will apple lower prices?
- Thread starter whitedragon101
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Yeah, Android has come along way. I mean in a good way too. As an iOS user, android stability has improved a lot, the customization is something that iOS will probably never allow. You only real tangible benefits that I appreciate with iOS is the security and iOS longevity/fluidity through support.
This is very true.
Their whole business model depends on not just monetizing current users but also ensuring every single piece of software and hardware stays competitive as they face fierce competition from all fronts.
The days of Apple being able to do whatever they want and catch-up at their own pace are long they over, they need to listen to the market.
I love how people keep claiming Apple don’t play the price game, that is pure rubbish, when Steve Jobs and his team in the early 2000s saw the onslaught of cheap MP3 Players coming to market they listened and brought the iPod Shuffle and iPod Nano, Apple have long played the price game, but this time around it’s a lot more difficult as most competitors have caught up in brand awareness, quality and functionality.
I think people are referring to the fact that Apple don’t adjust their pricing on an ad-hoc basis to spur sales. Flagship products launch with fixed prices which don’t change until the replacement Flagship launches the next year - and when they do, the changes are usually predictably structured across the remaining range.
What’s laughable to me is that so much is made of iPhones being overpriced, yet iPhone models continue to sell as brand new units for 3-4 years after initial release with relatively fixed prices. Meanwhile, Android flagships launch at prices in a similar ballpark but require hefty discounts to continue shifting after only a few couple of months. If they were truly worth their launch prices this wouldn’t happen.
I should add, that’s not me bashing Android at all, it’s just that I find the continual complaints about Apple pricing tiresome when it’s clear that the market is supporting the price tags. (Cue, somebody replying with a link to a survey of 100 people outside an Apple store in California masquerading as irrefutable proof that iPhone sales are in a spiralling decline).
Excellent points you bring out, and we would all do well to consider how much (beyond iPhone) we want to continue supporting Apple. Is the beef solely iPhone prices or does more lie beneath the surface.
Being that iPhone has been the major catalyst for most newer Apple product customers, I think the price increase on iPhone is where the contention comes in. You're most certainly correct that Apple could offset iPhone sale losses, with Revenue from Services, etc... However, I think that is extremely short sighted as future services would be choked by future customers dropping out of the eco-system and moving over to Android.
It’s because they know we’ll pay a premium for iOS... the Note 10 is a stunning design that makes the iPhone look like its from the 90’s... but I’d have an iPhone for iOS and my Apple Watch everyday, but I won’t pay a grand, I got an XR, I may change it to an XS once their prices drop.
Except that the active iPhone installed base continues to grow thanks to a healthy 2nd hand market, and all signs point to more people defecting from android to iOS than the other way around.
It sounds contradictory, but even with high iPhone prices, Apple is still able to grow their user base.
Not to mention that Apple sells a whole array of iPhone models. So when people found the iPhone XS Max too expensive, they didn’t defect to android; they simply picked the cheaper Xr or 8.
There’s a lot more nuance to this issue than simply - high prices -> fewer iPhones sold -> Apple is doomed. Far from it, as you will all see.
Growing your user base is great and all but how does this make money for Apple when iPhones are gifted or sold second hand? I know an awful lot of people who use iPhones this way and have never so much as bought an app! They sign up to an Apple ID and that is it. Free apps, no iCloud subscription, and no music subscription. I haven’t purchased an app since about 2012 and if I didn’t upgrade with new iPhones then Apple wouldn’t be getting my money.
This is why the new iPhone market is still so important. It’s great to brag how many people are using an iPhone but not all that money is going to Apple, not that they need it yet.
That type of people clearly don’t understand the benefits of apple ecosystem and wouldn’t have bought a device at the retail price from apple on their own anyway, but since they’re using an iPhone via secondhand means, it’s better for apple to have them as second degree customers than not having them at all. At some point they might buy into apple ecosystem. That’s the most important thing.
Also don’t forget the chances of the guy, who sold the old phone, to go and buy a new iPhone is way higher than not being able to pass on his old phone or having to take a huge loss while selling. That would have discouraged him to buy new iPhones.
Hmm last time I checked a lot of Android phones were not ‘plastic junk’.. I was looking at some of Samsung’s cheap A series phones and their screens embarrass my XR’s, OLED and higher res for a third of the price..
The only problem for iOS users is that they aren’t iOS. They are great if you are happy to live with android.
Yeap, that’s the problem, although if they make the Apple Watch a stand-alone device I’d possibly switch.
Apple is not going to lower prices, look at the last year, it’s sales were obviously tanking so they came up with the trade in programme that’s just been extended and extended.. but even this is really poor value and profits Apple mainly.
Just keep your existing phone for longer. There’s probably no need to replace it.
Thinking about this more I know 18 people in mine and my wife’s family who use inherited iPhones. I don’t know what you mean by these people ‘not understanding the benefits of the Apple ecosystem’? Do you have to be consistently purchasing services to understand it? I don’t subscribe to music and haven’t bought an app since 2012 but understand the benefits and use the ecosystem daily. That’s a strange claim from my point of view.
My wife’s parents always inherit our iPhones and will never buy an iPhone as long as we continue to gift them. We’ve also given other family members old iPhone 7’s that we’ve got from work that were old sales peoples and no longer needed. I think people underestimate the huge user base of people using iPhones on the secondhand market and this market is growing bigger as iPhones increase in cost.
What I mentioned was a general observation. I am aware that there are users who don’t purchase many / any apps and are content to just use their phones as is. But when you look at reports of how much revenue the iOS App Store is bringing in, or how much traction Apple Music is gaining, or how the Apple Watch and airpods are seeing huge growth, someone out there has to be buying them.
Also, I understand that in the US, Apple has this annual upgrade programme. Together with their trade-in programme, this ensures a steady stream of 2nd-hand iPhones passes through Apple’s hands, in addition to lowering the upfront cost of the iphones. Apple then gives these phones new casings, and resells them in other markets, earning the difference.
This is how Apple is able to reach more cost-conscious customers despite their top-tier iPhones costing more. Growing their installed base in the process, which in turn lets them sell more services.
Considering that Apple are the only ones that sell iOS products and already have a built up loyal base, I believe it’s easier to keep pricing and pricing structures overtime for models, while at in Android you have 100s of OEMs basically seeing you Hardware that has access to the same OS as others, it’s much harder to keep a loyal fan base in Android.
I think studies have shown before that Android users tend to be less loyal.
The Apple ecosystem really helps in keeping people entrenched in Apple product cycles, while for example Samsung sell a whole lot of competing products but none of them really have something that makes you stay in their ecosystem as there are other products that can plug in to them anyway.
At some point I owned a Sony Ericsson Xperia X10i along with a Samsung Galaxy Tab10.1, I never really felt it necessary to stick to one brand in Android , and I guess that is the dilemma for Android OEMs.
In marketing we like to talk about a “Golden Thread” that ties everything together, and OEMs like Samsung seem to lack this Golden Thread, while for Apple, that Golden Thread is their ecosystem and how well everything integrates seamlessly.
However as of late, a lot of these streaming services and Android OEMs have done a great job in along great hardware and software, that is challenging Apple in a way I doubt they imagined it would happen.
Ultimately its Apples game to lose. I think what will happen is that Apple will settle on a set amount of users with little bursts of growth and declines in terms of iPhone sales and sort of settle as the number 4 or 5 phone maker but still take the lions share of profits. Their iPhone business will be like their Mac business.
Tablets and wearables is where Apple will continue to dominate, IMO.
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As someone as alluded to, other than the iPhone, the continued growth for Apple will be through wearables. The Apple Watch has completely taken the market and will continue to as long as it incorporates health incentive features that the consumer would want to upgrade to. The iPhone generally has a strong stability, but in order to increase beyond stability, the price points have to be more reflective then they have been in the past or various changes have to be made through services/trade-ins.
I am pretty certain that prices will stay exactly the same this year. + 128 GB base storage and/or fast charger included.
Most android flagships come with a base storage of 128gb. When you upgrade to a 128gb iPhone X's, it is overpriced by a lot.
True, although for me personally I want to buy a phone that will last, my XR is not that phone, I was going to get the 2020 XR if it gets OLED, but it may lack the option for zoomed screen mode which I use all the time, unless it has the same low resolution..
So I’ll change it for the monster XS Max, utterly oversized beast, but I can read the text much easier then on the XS using zoomed screen mode. It’ll have the Intel modem unfortunately but it will be a phone to last if I get one this year or next year at a cheaper price then now, I’d get the black 64GB model and keep it for several years. I was drawn into the storage thing and got a 128GB model, I’m only currently using 26.2GB! So 64GB is fine for me.
All I wanted in a phone was decent OLED screen, speakers and camera, the current iPhones offer that.
Bur it’s kinda ridiculous to buy the iPhone I’d want I have to wait for 1 or 2 years after it’s launched for the price to come down to a barely acceptable level for purchase, the Note 10 will be getting decent discounts in its 2nd month after release probably!
However iPhones are built for longevity, Samsung phones are not and usually get 2 maybe 3 years of software support.
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