I agree with all the above apart from the cost of the iPad, seems very reasonable to me. Apple are becoming a joke and are now alienating their customers through shear greed.
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Apple Reportedly Plans to Cut Price of iPhone XR in Japan Due to Poor Sales and Restart iPhone X Production
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I commend Apple for going full 100% recycled aluminum with the new MacBook Air and the new life saving health features they packed into the Series 4. Both of these are milestone achievements that are unmatched by any other electronic consumer goods company, especially considering the scale at which Apple operates and sells.
BUT I do they think they got too greedy with their prices. Some might argue that this is the cost of being more environmentally friendly, but you have to keep in mind that Apple already has the Apple Tax. Now it is charging a second Apple Tax on top of the original price.
While Steve Jobs placed less emphasis on social and environmental responsibility than Tim Cook, he made sure that Apple products weren't outrageously priced. The original iPad and iPad 2 and iPhones 4 were great examples.
For me the prime example of Apple's increasing greed isn't even the iPhone XR or Xs and Xs Max. But the new MacBook Air and Mac Mini. The Air was supposed to be the people's notebook. The workhorse. The default laptop purchase. Now it feels like they are charging more simple 'cuz they can. It is the free market and capitalism allows them to do whatever they want, but it does leave one feeling that Apple has given into simplistic short term greed rather than keeping their eyes stubbornly focused on the horizon. Like they have in the past. This sense of purity in purpose that attracted so many die hard fans (including me).
BUT I do they think they got too greedy with their prices. Some might argue that this is the cost of being more environmentally friendly, but you have to keep in mind that Apple already has the Apple Tax. Now it is charging a second Apple Tax on top of the original price.
While Steve Jobs placed less emphasis on social and environmental responsibility than Tim Cook, he made sure that Apple products weren't outrageously priced. The original iPad and iPad 2 and iPhones 4 were great examples.
For me the prime example of Apple's increasing greed isn't even the iPhone XR or Xs and Xs Max. But the new MacBook Air and Mac Mini. The Air was supposed to be the people's notebook. The workhorse. The default laptop purchase. Now it feels like they are charging more simple 'cuz they can. It is the free market and capitalism allows them to do whatever they want, but it does leave one feeling that Apple has given into simplistic short term greed rather than keeping their eyes stubbornly focused on the horizon. Like they have in the past. This sense of purity in purpose that attracted so many die hard fans (including me).
Not all Japanese are into "Face ID" idea.
Apple doesn't like cutting their Retail Price. Instead they give more discount to Carriers to help push their Phone. I think Apple did this with iPhone 8 last year as well in Japan, where the carrier were working extremely hard to sell the iPhone 8.
Apple doesn't like cutting their Retail Price. Instead they give more discount to Carriers to help push their Phone. I think Apple did this with iPhone 8 last year as well in Japan, where the carrier were working extremely hard to sell the iPhone 8.
But then it fell off;
https://www.techspot.com/news/75388-iphone-8-world-best-selling-smartphone-may.html
And the iPhone 8 outsold it.
400? Damn. Pretty awesome.
Our Black Friday deals around here are truly ridiculous. It's more like add 100€ to a 1000€ product and then offer a 10% discount.
Tim Cook’s greed? What the hell are u talking about? Just because you’ve been accustomed to buying cheap Android handsets doesn’t mean there’s not a market for quality iPhones.
Samsung paying some commenters here no doubt...
I like the idea. But, I would expand it to discontinue both the 7, 8 and XR. Bring back the X at a lower cost and keep the Xs and XsMax.
My bad. Steve Job’s salary was $1 a year. I thought Tim Cook did the same
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Some people’s eye are not happy about OLED, so better keep the X-RAY, just discount it by &200 and we have a deal
The XS costs around £140 less in Japan than in the UK. Generally all Apple products are cheaper here, typically down to the difference in consumption tax to VAT. The iPhone 8 is about £430 and the XR £620
Weirdly enough, I've find living in Tokyo to be cheaper than London -- which is rather surprising!
The screen and camera are probably the two most important things on a smartphone whether you are tech savvy or not.
The point was that the price hike to get "the best" screen and camera may not be worth it (especially if you are not "tech savvy") and people are choosing lower priced devices.
I'm open to that. Kill off the 7 and 8. Keep the XR (discount it down to $450), Xs, and XsMax.
How complicated can it be? The iPod existed at some point because there were 4 models out at the same time, from expensive to really cheap. How complicated can it be to replicate that strategy with mobile phones? Why cutting out the SE? How do they expect to expand even more in the services part, by producing TV shows of questionable quality that nobody watches?
I'm puzzled
I'm puzzled
Steve Jobs was no philanthropist but he knew there is a difference between premium and ridiculous.
And he also knew that computing is very dependent on the network effect.
The comment about Cook's greed comes potentially from the point that the bulk of his pay / renumeration is via stock and stock options. The better the stock does, the better financially he is off. Slippage of stock value directly takes away from his own personal value.
This "marriage" to stock valuation can set the public image that his primary motivation is directed at propping up stock value and appeasing to wallstreet investors first and foremost instead of product quality.
The Profit margins in place tend to help lend credence to this, as we see that pricing tends to be focused first and foremost on maintaining specific margins rather than maintaining specific volumes and product differentiation from the rest of the market.
We also see this with the decision to stop reporting unit sales (which can be used as indication of company direction and market penetration) while raising prices accross the board on all product, even though many of those products have not necessarily shown justification in comparable market to those increase
The simple point is that Apple, like every other company isn't going to maintain record growths forever, especially if they don't either create new categories or enter into new categories. The need to jack up prices to make up the difference in revenue growth is just further evidence that Cook is more about appeasing stock buyers than long term business strategy for success. he's willing to trade company good will for stock increases.
IMHO, a better long term strategy is to keep pricing moderately reasonable (and yes, can be slightly above the competition, it is Apple), but outright telling wallstreet the days of record growth are over, deal with it, or sell the stock back to Apple. at some point in every comanies career, they have to transition from growth to stability. Apple is trying to do both.
I have read stuff that college education is expensive in the USA but damn, do you really need to have Apple's CEO on board to pay for that?
Steve's $1 salary didn't include his stock options. It was actually a tax shelter, and there was a bit of a scandal about the way the shares were issued.
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Believe it or not, on average it take 20 to 25 years for most Americans to pay off their student loans.
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Posts like this always make me laugh. You're equating Samsung with "cheap Android handsets" and only Apple can provide "quality" when it comes to phones.
Firstly, have you looked at the price of Samsungs flagship phones? Are they "cheap Android handsets"?
Secondly, get out of your iToy bubble. Samsung make Computers, phones, TV, fridges, bulldozers even friggin' oil-rigs! They do this because they can and nobody-else is doing it, heck they make the parts for your precious iPhone.
Not bad for a "cheap Android" company....
Cook's pricing strategy worked initially, no doubt.
And, was all smiles as Apple gained a temporary pop in revenues -- but not on units sold -- driven mostly by front-line Apple buyers, like some in here.
But is this strategy sustainable?
That is Apple's (and Cook's) conundrum.
Maybe, just maybe, he should call on Jony Ive to make everything even thinner -- so thin that the problem simply disappears./s
And, was all smiles as Apple gained a temporary pop in revenues -- but not on units sold -- driven mostly by front-line Apple buyers, like some in here.
But is this strategy sustainable?
That is Apple's (and Cook's) conundrum.
Maybe, just maybe, he should call on Jony Ive to make everything even thinner -- so thin that the problem simply disappears./s
Sorry but I couldn’t read this and ignore it.
The only people looking stupid are those that make a judgement on others based on what phone they decide to purchase.
I guess a lot of people - including me - find the XR too big. Make it Xs form factor and I would buy it even for the hideous price.
Every two years my company lets me choose a new phone for work and pays 500 Euros from my bill. Two years ago I got the iPhone 7 and sold my previous 6 to pay for the 300 Euros that were left of that bill. This oktober I would have had to pay 700 Euros even after my company would pay 500 upfront! No way! I sold my old 7 and got a new iPhone 7 again.
Apple is charging way too much for a phone. Seems like they are living inside a bubble. They should check out the top of the line phones from Huawai or Xiaomi, way cheaper for comparable phones. Ok they don't need to put money to develop an own OS like apple does since Google is providing them with free Android but still. Way out of touch Apple.
Apple is charging way too much for a phone. Seems like they are living inside a bubble. They should check out the top of the line phones from Huawai or Xiaomi, way cheaper for comparable phones. Ok they don't need to put money to develop an own OS like apple does since Google is providing them with free Android but still. Way out of touch Apple.
make it similar to the SE and I'd be back on an iPhone in a jiffy.
I know it's a mockup, but I'd have bought this "cheaper" iPhone for sure. This is what I think people were looking for in a "cheaper iPhone"... the Xr seems like its a product looking for an audience, where I believe a slightly larger SE, with this sort of design language would be actually in demand.
NOBODY is making smaller phones anymore. This is an untapped market of users forced to buy larger devices.
Ah November, the time of year the doom and gloom folks claim Apple is doomed and all their sales are tanking.
So they aren't selling more than last year, big deal. They are still selling a TON of these devices. The only mistake Apple is doing is having so many damn models available at the same time (i.e. like in the 1990s), it's getting out of hand.
So they aren't selling more than last year, big deal. They are still selling a TON of these devices. The only mistake Apple is doing is having so many damn models available at the same time (i.e. like in the 1990s), it's getting out of hand.