Apple Reportedly Reassigned Some Marketing Staff to Work on Bolstering Sales of iPhone XS and iPhone XR

[Saturnine]

People keep acting like VAT is unique outside the united states. In the US, we have sales tax. It varies from state to state (and county to county). But you can easily pay 7-10%. The sticker shock in Europe is ahead of time and in the advertised price. In the US, you get the shock of seeing how much you are really paying right as you are clicking order or swiping your card at a register.

People (read: me) are not acting like VAT is unique outside the US. I’m a regular visitor to the US and I know exactly how much sales tax is added at the point of sale. Now, correct me if I’m wrong but there is no US state where sales tax is as high as 20%. My point was simply to remind commenters from the US that prices charged around the world may be significantly more than they are at home and that may account for at least some of the perception of overpricing.

 

[zla]

Iphone 6 here. I was really excited to see what the Xr was all about, definitely due for an upgrade. While I'm happy the processor is the same as the Xs, like the colors, camera, and screen size. I wasn't a fan of the price. I would rather have $150 off and have a fingerprint sensor on the back and crappier camera. If we had to have the A11 to get the price there too so be it.

I was really disappointed that their budget phones basically fell in line with the price trend of the 7 and 8. I guess I wasn't the only one. I don't really want to lose the security of iOS, or the integration (itunes, podcasts, apple environment, saved app data). SIGH. This combined with the disappointment of the macbook pro and air is really making it hard to stay an apple fan. Not surprised their stock is crashing, they're solidifying themselves as a fashion company.

 

[Plutonius]

Easy solution. Just lower prices.

Get rid of some marketing staff to offset the lower prices .

 

[groadyho]

Aside from maybe Samsung, what other company sells OLED phones in the quantities Apple does? It’s easy to be first with cutting edge tech when you’re not selling tens of millions of phones a quarter.

See with Android you have a choice. No 1 Android mftr. will ever sell as mush as Apple. That said I've had oled or amoled my last 3 phones over 6yrs. 1 Windows phone and 2 droids

 

[moonlightmile]

I have been in the Apple ecosystem since the first iPod and G5 desktop......3 kids with countless Mac mini’s a few MacBooks and MacBook Pros.......

I bought the X and am very happy....my 6s plus was a dog...........

My daughter just bought the new MacBook Air after having a aged MacBook......helping her with the configuration I couldn’t believe her MacBook had a 750 GB hard drive.........getting old I am.....

My 2011 MacBook Air died and I really wanted a new laptop but after trying to justify price, etc.... I bought a Matebook X.....first non Mac since that first G5............

Serves my needs and is a rocking laptop..........and having a touchscreen is cool

I love reading these forums and the help they provide for tech issues and all the knowledge......

As a parent who’s kids are getting their own phones and computers it really bothers me that they are in the “but my payment only goes up 20 bucks a month” mindset.... Most defend it but it all adds up .......

It’s like the car business.........”it doesn’t matter what it costs it’s your monthly payment that matters” mentality

But reading these forums over the years it’s easy to see how Apple was able to sell the product line.......the Mac fanatics would always pay whatever the price was or is to have the latest and greatest......

I only commented today because the lest few months is the most I’ve seen people voicing their displeasure about pricing and some of the products being behind on latest chips etc........

I’ll go back to lurking

Cheers and Happy Holidays to all.........

Remember there are much more important things in life than having the latest and greatest

 

[dmccombs]

I think this is great news. While Apple has some nice products, they are playing catch-up in many areas, yet charging excessive prices. When things go wrong, they sweep it under the carpet like there is no problem. Customers beat their head against the wall trying to fix something that apple can only fix. Eventually people get tired of paying top dollar for frustration and average results.

Here are some of my examples. I know folks here have several more:
- Paying $1000+ for a phone, then having to spend more for a fast charger to go with that fast charging phone.
- Constantly changing cable connections so folks have to buy new chargers every couple of years.
- Making minute changes to phone sizes so folk shave to buy new cases and screen protectors.
- Siri Problems (Never acknowledges problems, tells everyone everything is fine.
- Sir integration (not only does Sir give weird unhelpful responses, but sometimes you get even get Siri to respond, or doesn't respond in the car).
- My XS camera is almost as good as my wife 2 year old Samsung camera.
- MY XS just got the lower frequency band that Samsung has made available for 1-2 years.

I switched to Apple originally because of the "It just works campaign" way back. But now, things don't just work. Apple is falling behind. They don't acknowledge issues which waste customers time.

I plan on keeping m Macbook and I think OSX is still terrific. But, I am losing patience with the iphone / Ios, Apple Watch. Way too many Apple Watch and IOS issues so the Watch isn't that useful. The iPhone is easily beat by Android phone now. The integration used to help Apple's case, but intermittent integration is not a selling point, its a deterrent.

Anyway, I hope the poor sales sends Apple a message. Quit being arrogant, listen to your customers, make your products work as advertised, and quit charging out the buttocks.

 

[Glideslope]

Whoops! We made the iPhone 7, 7+, 8, 8+ and X too powerful. Now people are actually holding on to their phones for longer than 2 years. Better screw up the next update and make them slow so people are forced to upgrade!

No, the 7 and 8 are simply all that is required to run iOS 12 well. The XS, and XS Max are simply far too expensive for what they offer. The XR should have started at $699 IMO. Lower the prices and people may go back to every 2 years. It's the pricing that is causing the retention past 2 years, not having an A11 vs and A12 in your phone. Apple is rapidly loosing the "Bling Factor." People are sick of listening to stories from Tim about "Magical Products."

 

[smorrissey]

Easy solution. Just lower prices.

Get rid of some marketing staff to offset the lower prices .

or even better a bunch of arrogant geniuses

 

[Rogifan]

I think the word “overpriced” might be being overused. Apple obviously spends a huge amount on R&D and the components/assembly of the devices. There are also the marketing and logistics costs, plus a healthy profit margin.

The problem is that, if £999 (or the US equivalent) is the lowest price Apple are able to sell the XS for, it’s simply more than many consumers are willing or able to pay. There are many, many other handsets out there that will do 95% of what an iPhone can do for a fraction of the cost. Sure, they may not have the best screens, the best build quality or some of the other cutting edge tech, but in terms of utility they will do almost as much.

I can certainly imagine some consumers spending £700-£800 on an iPhone with hesitancy, but there has to be a tipping point where those same consumers say, “Sod it, I’ll just get that cheap Android instead. It’s almost as good.” And I wonder if we’re now at that tipping point.

If you look at Apple’s gross margins they’ve stayed roughly the same (between 38-40%) quarter to quarter. And this is with more revenues being attributed to services which one would assume have higher margins than hardware. But the price to consumers has been increasing and I doubt they care much what Apple’s margins are.

 

[Bawstun]

This is exactly what is currently happening under Tim Cook's leadership. Sales are dropping not only because the devices last longer and users don't need to upgrade - that's silly. People are always spending money. You aren't giving them a reason to, and you're asking too much for what you are offering. People want the newest and greatest, unfortunately that's the society that capitalism has created for us and it isn't going away anytime soon. It's dangerous territory that Apple is explaining away the declining sales as limited upgrade cycles. Not true. Users are going to Android or other makers, and soon marketshare will start to slip. Once that snowball starts, good luck because the App Store and the precious developers then become in jeopardy. Lose the marketshare and you lose the minds behind the great apps. Lose that, and you become RIM Blackberry.

Watch and see. Tim needs to go, fast.

 

[I7guy]

Big screen TV’s used to command big prices and drive big profits/sales at places like Circuit City. Now you can get a good TV for a great price from Amazon. The former Circuit City near my house is now a secondhand clothing store.

Clearly this is why Apple is trying to become Netflix. And sell more services.

This is the first time that I am questioning holding the stock. They can only sell services to existing customers. And their Appleflix feels sketchy given their decision to avoid “adult” content (House of Cards and Game of Thrones anyone! Uh, not.)

Hope I’m wrong! I am a stockholder.

Go with your instincts about the stock and don't second guess yourself is the lesson I've learned.

I think avoiding adult oriented content has it's pluses and minuses. Already have access to so much content I wonder what the value of "appleflix" is going to be?

 

[BruceEBonus]

It’s all a matter of how long can IOS keep people paying high prices and not pop their head over the wall and realise actually there are better and cheaper alternatives out there!
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This is exactly what is currently happening under Tim Cook's leadership. Sales are dropping not only because the devices last longer and users don't need to upgrade - that's silly. People are always spending money. You aren't giving them a reason to, and you're asking too much for what you are offering. People want the newest and greatest, unfortunately that's the society that capitalism has created for us and it isn't going away anytime soon. It's dangerous territory that Apple is explaining away the declining sales as limited upgrade cycles. Not true. Users are going to Android or other makers, and soon marketshare will start to slip. Once that snowball starts, good luck because the App Store and the precious developers then become in jeopardy. Lose the marketshare and you lose the minds behind the great apps. Lose that, and you become RIM Blackberry.

Watch and see. Tim needs to go, fast.

This is bang on. Sums it up succinctly.

 

[I7guy]

We discuss here, and have opinions, your how do You know questions are not helpful in any way

Was that an opinion or "fact". It sounded pretty much like a fact. As an opinion however, speaking for a constituency of people you don't know, didn't poll etc, is still no a proper debating tactic. As a fact a citation would be warranted for such outlandish statements.

 

[macsrcool1234]

Lower the price.
Fix the nonsensical product lines.

 

[Ion-X]

Instead of throwing more heads at the symptom, fix the cause: These phones are way too expensive.

After AppleCare+ and taxes my iPhone XS Max 512 cost nearly $2000, which is simply ridiculous.

 

[thadoggfather]

Appearances wise, Apple certainly seems to be more desperate than ever

The extremely wordy description of XR and XS, isnt exactly confidence instilling either

10% military discount (I applaud this, military people SHOULD get discounts, long overdue... but the timing feeds into desperation), and $449 after trade in for XR prominent marketing...

I am suspicious

I really like my XR, but I would love for Apple to fail -- not with this product in particular as I like many of the changes (bigger screen for comparatively less $, no PWM, color options, battery life, cheaper repair costs than X/XS/XSM, not gauging on 64 to 128GB increase, and 128GB increase instead of 64 to 256) but this business cycle season. That's the only way they're going to work harder. The only way.

 

[Dave245]

Im a little confused on how the XR is overpriced for what it is. Its literally 90 percent of the XS Max for $350 less. It also has the best battery life out of any iPhone including the Max. That $350 gets you a zoom lens and a higher res OLED screen. Most wont see that as worth $350 since Apple has the best LCDs in the business and no one cared for 10 years except nerds (which apple doesn't cater to any more or else they'd never be the most valuable company on the planet). Now ,lets use the 8 plus as the example since the plus size phones are so popular now. The screen is larger than the 8 Plus, gets better battery than the 8 plus, faster than the 8 plus, still does portrait mode like the 8 plus and does smart HDR portrait selfies which the 8 Plus CANNOT do. The only 2 advantages the 8 plus has is that it has a zoom lens and a little higher res screen. Other than that the XR is an improvement in every single way for only $50 more today.

So....again....how exactly is the XR overpriced for what it is??

You are joking, right? The XR has a screen resolution of 1792x828 in 2018 that’s a joke! No dual lens camera, no 3D Touch, oh and it’s starting price is £749! The XR is a misstep by Apple. It’s over priced when you can just get the iPhone 8 or if you want to pay more the XS.

 

[mikethemartian]

It takes courage to raise prices.

I bet some group will give Tim Cook an award for raising prices.

 

[timborama]

LOL. Marketing is NOT the issue.

 

[thadoggfather]

If Apple were to lower prices, would they retroactively refund customers like they did with original iPhone and the price drop?

They gave early adopters $100 back to meet in the middle between old vs new pricing (599 vs 399) iirc

 

[Rogifan]

See with Android you have a choice. No 1 Android mftr. will ever sell as mush as Apple. That said I've had oled or amoled my last 3 phones over 6yrs. 1 Windows phone and 2 droids

My point was Apple isn’t going to adopt something until they can be guaranteed significant quantities. It isn’t about being late but ample supply.

 

[one more]

iPhone market is very mature/saturated by now and there are still cheaper brand new iPhones sold by Apple. iPhone XR might be the cheapest of the 2018 iPhone line, but it is certainly not cheap per se for many people, hence there are no crowds of people wanting to change their existing iPhone now. I use iPhone 7, for example, and find it hard to justify an upgrade to 8, XS or XR. For me iPhone is simply a frame for iOS and my existing one does everything I need it to remarkably well.

 

[Glideslope]

If you look at Apple’s gross margins they’ve stayed roughly the same (between 38-40%) quarter to quarter. And this is with more revenues being attributed to services which one would assume have higher margins than hardware. But the price to consumers has been increasing and I doubt they care much what Apple’s margins are.

Correct, however services revenue is very dependent on installed user base market percentage. Dropping unit sales, failing to bring users from another ecosystem to iOS does not help growth in services revenue. If sales continue to drop its unlikely Apple will come close to their forecast of $100 Billion in annual services revenue by the end of 2023.

I also disagree with the concept that the majority of users are numb to Apple's huge margins. 3 years ago, absolutely. Today, not so much. I hear Apple's margins in relation to their pricing from others far more today than I ever have.

 

[The Captain]

Side note, Apples marketing people have been pretty terrible lately too. My GF was watching TV this weekend and was flooded with apple adds. After a while she just turned to me and said 'So Apple's are for old rich people or their kids huh?' Then the next time the newest Mac commercial ran she started calling out 'Old rich person, Old rich person, Old rich person" as they showed old rich people with the macs. While I just kept thinking "Washed up artist, still ok artist, washed up artist,"

 

[Radon87000]

Time for planned obsolescence to resume with iOS 13.
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You are joking, right? The XR has a screen resolution of 1792x828 in 2018 that’s a joke! No dual lens camera, no 3D Touch, oh and it’s starting price is £749! The XR is a misstep by Apple. It’s over priced when you can just get the iPhone 8 or if you want to pay more the XS.

Agreed. The XR is a pile of garbage.