did anyone else not pick up on this juicy irony right here in this post?
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Apple Reportedly Advised Technicians to Push iPhone Upgrades to Customers With Out-of-Warranty Devices
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did anyone else not pick up on this juicy irony right here in this post?
I have a 6s since it launched last yr I got the battery replaced for $29.00
Since Apples lowered prices of the Xs and Xr, I’ve gotten about 6 or 7 emails from Apple that either the prices have been lowered or that I can trade in my 6s to upgrade. All marketing ploys.
I don’t find anything wrong with that but at the same time we as Apple consumers are not “use” to seeing this type of value deals from Apple. The first thing that popped into my head was that the new phones are not selling.
In any case I’m holding on to my 6s until another yr or 2 or until the notch is gone or greatly reduced. I’d never buy the Xr, I want the best looking screen possible on an iPhone.
Since Apples lowered prices of the Xs and Xr, I’ve gotten about 6 or 7 emails from Apple that either the prices have been lowered or that I can trade in my 6s to upgrade. All marketing ploys.
I don’t find anything wrong with that but at the same time we as Apple consumers are not “use” to seeing this type of value deals from Apple. The first thing that popped into my head was that the new phones are not selling.
In any case I’m holding on to my 6s until another yr or 2 or until the notch is gone or greatly reduced. I’d never buy the Xr, I want the best looking screen possible on an iPhone.
Last year the battery in my 6s was replaced without hassle. A few months ago I brought my spouse's iphone 7 to have the battery checked. Genius checked it and replaced the battery. Customers are going to do what they want anyway. Have an older phone that needs to be fixed, one weighs the options between fix and buy. For me, genius isn't going to change my mind on a course of action.
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We do?
I saw this first-hand at my local Apple Store during the battery replacement period. Apple employees were pushing customers to trade-in their iPhone and upgrade instead of replacing the battery. The one exception was when I mentioned I had an iPhone SE. Go figure.
Last month, Apple lowered its revenue guidance for the first quarter of its 2019 fiscal year by up to $9 billion due to fewer iPhone upgrades than it anticipated, primarily due to economic weakness in the Greater China region.
A few months prior to the announcement, Apple began heavily promoting iPhone XR and iPhone XS trade-ins with a limited time promotion, prominent banner on its website, emails to older iPhone users, store signage, App Store editorials, and other uncharacteristically aggressive tactics aimed at boosting sales.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman previously reported that Apple reassigned some of its marketing staff to focus on bolstering sales of its latest iPhone lineup in late October, around the time the iPhone XR launched. The report cited an unnamed source who described the efforts as a "fire drill."
In a report this week about Deirdre O'Brien succeeding Angela Ahrendts as Apple's retail chief, Gurman elaborated a bit more on Apple's tactics to promote its latest iPhones, claiming that the company advised its technicians to "push iPhone upgrades to consumers with out-of-warranty devices."
Senior retail staff were also tasked with making sure other employees were suggesting upgrades, according to Gurman:We presume this refers to Genius Bar technicians at Apple Stores, but there is also a network of Apple Authorized Service Providers, some of which double as authorized resellers that offer the latest Apple products for sale.
It's unclear if the tactics had any influence on Ahrendts stepping down from her position. Unlike her short-lived predecessor John Browett, who reportedly pushed Apple retail employees to aggressively upsell products, Ahrendts focused on the experience with free Today at Apple creativity sessions and more.
Last month, Apple CEO Tim Cook admitted that "customers are holding on to their older iPhones a bit longer than in the past." In a letter to shareholders, Cook said Apple is undertaking and accelerating initiatives to improve its results, such as making it simple to trade in a phone at its stores.
Apple's reported efforts to push iPhone upgrades creates an interesting juxtaposition. On one hand, the company's environmental chief Lisa Jackson recently said customers using its devices longer "is the best thing for the planet," and on the other hand it is more aggressively encouraging customers to buy a new iPhone.
Skip to 1:23:51 mark for Lisa Jackson's comments
Whether the tactics are effective will be harder to gauge going forward, as Apple no longer discloses unit sales in its quarterly earnings report. Apple forecasted revenue between $55 billion and $59 billion in the current quarter, which would be down from $61.1 billion in the year-ago quarter.
Article Link: Apple Reportedly Advised Technicians to Push iPhone Upgrades to Customers With Out-of-Warranty Devices
It’s basic sales. We all see it everywhere. Who said Apple is “pushing” new iPhone sales. Would you be more upset if you spent $200-$300 on a device to be fixed knowing in a year or two it will be obsolete, or can’t have the latest software?? How about spend that money on a new device.
"But Apple is not a charity" or just insert random apologetic comment excusing scummy corporate behavior.
And these people complaining about this would be the same ones to write here how Apple charged them $300 to fix an iPhone 6, instead of suggesting an upgrade. smh.
What scummy corporate behavior. Selling their products in their stores?
iPhone cycle recently went from three-years to four years, not every year. if you are having problems outside of warranty, repair or replace is always a choice, customer's choice, emphasis on choice. Apple is a leading firm in not mining new materials and emphasizes recycling/reuse (don't they have that cute disassembly robot?). Other firms also adopting apple's stricter guidelines and low use of toxics would be a better bang for your crusade
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Interesting to see all the Apple defenders justifying pushy sales/upgrade tactics by comparing Apple to used car salesmen, internet carrier sales pitches, shopping mall retailers, and soda pushers by wait people in likely less than high quality restaurants - and all with the standard, "Oh no, Apple trying to make money..." retort. The problem here is in the less than high road style of sales that Apple is taking when emulating such businesses. Apple has started shifting away from the less pushy tactics taken by high quality, even luxury product producers, who feel no need to push their products - high quality speaks for itself. Mercedes Benz and Ferrari dealers don't use the same sales tactics as used car sales vendors; Saks Fifth Avenue doesn't push products like Walmart; high end quality restaurants use chefs rather than fry cooks, and don't push sodas when one requests water. Apple, by instructing its retail employees to push new products on people seeking repair work, is adopting the standard practices of Android phone producers and most PC companies. As their profits have taken a hit of late, they have found the need to more aggressively push customers into upgrades rather than repair and retention of older devices. This may eventually corrode resale values of Apple devices, since even Apple is now discounting older products as devoid of value and not worthy of repair. But yes, perhaps that is the new way needed for Apple to bolster profits. But indeed, "oh no, Apple trying to make money", is the new rallying call.
Repair your car. Dealers make more money on service than sales. And the service department generally does not push sales of new vehicles. And while you have come to them already to pay them for service, there is no assurance that if they suggested you’d be better off buying a new car that you’d buy it there.
Nope a companies purpose is to make profit. Not max profit, just profit , that’s the definition of an company. You don’t need to sell physical overpriced electronic waste, just to max profit!
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Yes, 1 year warranty, so what?
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300vs 800 to 1000, pls. Explain the upgrade advantage in detail
Wait...huge corporation worth billions is trying to make more money and using every tactic possible to do so?
I am...genuinely shocked.
I mean how do you think they got to be the world's most valuable company?
I'll admit the battery throttling-fiasco is one thing (a little too shady), but at some point people have to stop being lazy and expecting a nearly trillion dollar company to have their best interest in mind. Gonna have to use that brain a bit and do some research into all options rather than just heading straight to a store.
I am...genuinely shocked.
I mean how do you think they got to be the world's most valuable company?
I'll admit the battery throttling-fiasco is one thing (a little too shady), but at some point people have to stop being lazy and expecting a nearly trillion dollar company to have their best interest in mind. Gonna have to use that brain a bit and do some research into all options rather than just heading straight to a store.
To elucidate, a company's purpose is to provide a service (Peter Drucker). The profit comes from the service. Not for profit companies do not make a profit from their service.
I’m a computer consultant and I always let customers know that upgrading is a potential option if they are running old and outdated PCs, Servers or Macs. I don’t get “pushy” but I think it’s a good idea to let people know what’s available, especially if there might be security or compatibility issues.
Phones are like cars now and people have to start excepting that. In the early years of every product each upgrade felt gigantic, think iPad , iPod, Apple Watch. The first few years were filled with giant leaps. There isn’t a compelling reason to upgrade your car, toaster, refrigerator every year either. It doesn’t mean apple isn’t making compelling products, it means phones are utilities, are mature and have reached saturation in the market. Like cars for example , every 5 years a model gets a nice facelift and a few nice new features. The same with apple products....2014 brought the iPhone 6 which was huge, now in 2017 we got the X. For iPads same thing, the 2018 iPads are a giant leap forward compared to the iterative upgrades of the last few years. It’s the way tech is now.
Seriously what do people want now for an iPhone to be compelling? Shaped like a triangle with 42 cameras on the back ? We already have giant OLED edge to edge screens with amazing cameras. I’d argue is it really apples fault you don’t wanna upgrade or your own for wanting some Jesus unicorn phone that will never exist? People gave up on flying cars, time to give up on a flying iPhone.
The Genius staff is giving options. What precisely is wrong with giving options? Would love to hear this contrived explanation why it isn’t ok to inform
Yes, this is illustrative of how the Apple Stores have changed in the post-SJ era. A visit to an Apple Store used to be comparable to entering a Mercedes or BMW dealership - it could be a "golly jee wow" experience of just gawking at the new products, or the need to get an old Mac/Benz repaired, perhaps one you even purchased from the dealer. You don't expect to have rejection of repair combined with high pressure to buy a new product. The experience is somehow cheapened. Then again, if I walk into a discount PC dealership like Frys Electronics, this is exactly what I would expect.
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Ditto for ports on the new MacBooks. Make them a little less thin, add an SD card slot and more USB ports, and go back to a pre-2016 reliable keyboard, and you've got a sale.
I took advantage of the 6s trade in, and picked up a max. Completely spur of the moment as was picking up a iPhone 7 that had the battery replaced for free.
Exactly what Apple did Not do, with even one year old iPhones, when it got caught with its pants down with the battery "gate". The blame is not on the technicians - such an order comes from above, maybe even from the head. Hence the mistrust voiced here.
How many here replaced an iPhone because the lightning port failed, and the motherboard was condemned?