Apple to Cut iPhone 6s and 6s Plus Production by 30% in Q1 2016

[Dave245]

I don't see this as a problem for Apple, the iPhone has been selling very well for a number of years. Last year analysts said that the iPhone 6s would not sell as well as the 6 did, and they managed to once again break their own records, with 13 million sold in just 3 days people (myself included) will continue to buy the iPhone because they are great phones that in my opinion (and many other peoples) are the best on the market at the moment. The only reason i didn't upgrade to the 6s was because i'm really happy with my iPhone 6 Plus, not only that but i buy my phones outright (what we in the UK call Pay As You Go) but i will more than likely be buying the iPhone 7 when it is released later this year.

 

[colorfuel]

This year the 2-year cycle is already on the 5s, so a lot of us are either holding out in hope of something like the rumored 6c, switching to Android, or just sticking with the 5s until it's no longer useful.

I agree, the performance of the 5S is still pretty much good enough since it performs just aswell as the 6 in everyday tasks. Heck, even the 5 performs good enough in everyday tasks.

I myself am patiently waiting for a 6C or similar. Switching to Android is not an option though, since there is nothing similar to the iPhone 5/5S in that market that is advanced enough to warrant a switch.

 

[alexgowers]

That 30% decline is purely down to Dollar being too strong and rather than maintain previous prices apple has upped the price in many countries by a significant margin and priced themselves out of some markets.

It's not rocket science. Most people only upgrade after a 2 year contract, they look at price of competing products only against love of an OS. Even if you are only $20 more that's enough to loose a sale.

There is nothing wrong with the iPhone 6s or plus it's just price that is all.

 

[Poochi]

iPhone 6S is nice but not $1500 Canadian Dollar nice after the taxes... When considering the price went from under $1000 all/in couple years ago, to over $1200 in 2014 for the 6 and a huge jump in 2015.

I am completely priced out from the value perspective (and my salary didn't go up as fast as the iPhone price)

(And try almost $1700 CAD for the S+)

 

[cmichaelb]

What do you use force touch for the most/where has it improved your daily usage the most?

Genuinely curious here -- I really haven't used it much since the first week I got my phone, though it may be because I've simply been too lazy to learn where it's most useful.

For the few apps that support it, to jump into the apps quickly it has been the pretty useful. Quick launch an SMS to someone, or make a phone call. A number of stock apps are set up to use it - I use it a ton more on the watch of course, but -

SMS
PHONE
CAMERA
iBooks
Calendar
News
Maps
Mail
Safari

The camera is the one I've used the most. It is easy to forget it's there, after 8 years of muscle memory I'm still learning to use it.

Also, I've noticed Camera + and Notability are set up to use Force Touch as well.

 

[kdarling]

Sadly Apple won't be able to boast in their upcoming iPhone's launch that the previous iPhone had out sold the then-previous iPhone anymore.

Don't worry, Cook will try anyway

Every time a new iPhone comes out, Cook has been making sure that some numbers beat the year before. More launch countries. More pre-sales. Etc. He's kind of trapped himself into this YoY increase paradigm, which is of course gets harder to pull off each time. Bad precedent to set for the long term.

One side effect is that Apple has apparently been pushing retailers to buy more units upfront. This gives great sales numbers for Apple to brag about, but then leads to lower Apple sales a quarter or two later as inventory piles up on store shelves. It's a classic case of what people call "shipped, not sold" when they talk about other companies.

The majority of Apple's sales are into markets that do not have (and never did have) the US-style bundling that made phones appear to cost $200.

Hmm. I don't know about that.

I researched this last year, and stopped counting when I reached 90% of iPhone sales being from regions with subsidies or loan programs.

 

[Erdbeertorte]

6S just sounds old compared to S7. So this means nothing else than the iPhone 8 will be released in February.

 

[Daisy81]

He is a great accountant/manager and jony ive is a great designer, what more could you want? Magic? The apple watch can't be magical, all the things people say here they would like aren't possible yet because actual technology. The smartphone is perfectly non-obsolete and they have quite all the profits that sector generates.

Other than that, the company is an one trick pony, true, but that's because of the iphone's enormous success

A return to the Power Mac days.

 

[25ghosts]

... and everyone starts wondering.... how could THAT happen...

The product has just started to SUCK.

Been using iPhone since day one... and upgraded each year. Now I have the 6Plus.

With iOS9 - I lost My Patience.

1) Launching the Camera makes sure that you LOOSE any precious moment. Because the stupid app HAS to blur (Fade) in. Thus taking way too long to become operational.
2) iOS 9 has slowed down the phone to a crawl
3) Battery time is ridiculously short. And Apple's answer was to produce the hump. The ugliest design EVER made.
4) Ive's obsession with thin products is almost funny. He design the products so thin that
A) A functional Battery won't fit in
B) The user can't hold on to it
C) It bends easily
D) User needs to purchase a case 3 times as thick as the phone... So that every iPhone user becomes recognizable at 100 feet's distance due to the overly thick brick he needs to carry in order for his thin phone NOT to break.

Folks won't stand for this kind of equipment and as much as I love Apple (I really do) I WILL have to mind productivity over beauty.

With Each OS be that iOS or OS X quality and stability has degrade severely. And I take that this will continue.
Even developers are now refusing to install Apples Pre-Release Software due to so intense unreliability and if no one installs the pre-release software - how on earth are the nasty bugs going to be spotted PRIOR to Public Release.

Dark Days ahead of us !

 

[MaxinMusicCity]

The 6 sold too well. All that pent-up demand for the bigger screen couldn't be matched this time around.

Or maybe the 6s is just too thick.

Well, if they'd worry more about the battery life and less about making it look paper thin.....

 

[Supermacguy]

I'm on a 5s and do not want the 6 or 6+ large size. I'm holding out on a 5-series size unit. Performance is fine on my 5s still.

 

[LarryJW]

Upgraded to 6s Plus from 6 Plus, giving my daughter the latter. She is super happy with her upgrade, and the 6s Plus camera takes shots that allow me to blowup more readily. That is important to me. It has better cellular reception also.

The kicker was Apple's monthly payment plan. An unlocked phone for about $40/month with Apple Care included, and zero interest and upgrade to next phone after a year. Financially, it's a great deal.

 

[sza]

That's terrible... If you're paying for a pricy contract every month you may as well get the new phone every time if you can.
[doublepost=1452073540][/doublepost]

How was the S cycle botched? Because touch ID is too fast?

God, I hate this place. All anyone does is whine.

No, I don't pay contract any more. Spending too much on phone is not a wise budget IMO.

 

[Moorepheus]

A lot of the bad news has been priced into the stock yet every time we get a new rumor re-iterating previous rumors the stock goes down again.


No huge surprise for what? Apple hasn't reported it's holiday quarter yet nor has it given guidance for the March quarter.



Sorry you're wrong. Not one of the 4 major US carriers is quoting the actual price. AT&T shows the installment amounts in big bold text, Verizon has zero down in big bold text, t-mobile and Sprint also show zero down. The actual price of the phone is in tiny text. Carriers want you want installment plans; they're going out of their way to not show the full price of the phone. What you see is a Droid Turbo 2 for $22 a month compared to an iPhone 6S for $27. Is that extra $5 a month going to scare someone away from buying the 6S? No.

And I'm sorry but nobody thought they were getting an iPhone for $199.

Actually, I would say people thought they were getting the iPhone $199. Aside from the people that keep tracking of what is going on in the business, I would say the majority DON'T, it is a big difference. I have 6 phones on my plan, 4 of them iPhones. 3 of the people on my play wanted to upgrade and since I moved to the AT&T Family Share plan when I got my new iPhone last year, they are no longer eligible for the "Pay one price for the phone" deal, now they have to make PAYMENTS. This was a concern for all 3 of these people. I, on the other hand, watch what this industry is doing and realized the difference (or the really no difference, reason I switch to the Family Share Plan) between the two. All these people see now is $27 per month for 24 months....they do the math, (and they do the math) see that it is costing them, not $199 for the phone, but $649. This is what the COMMON person is seeing. They are seeing the retail price, because now, unlike before, they are seeing the amount the phone is costing them on the bill.

 

[NYMinute]

I upgraded from a 4s to a 5s at the end of the two year contract because at the time my monthly bill from AT&T included the cost of the subsidized phone even after the contract is done. Not upgrading was more expensive than upgrading. It was better to pay the 200 to 400 dollars to get a 5S and sell the 4s. I gave my 4s to my mother instead and it is still her main platform to communicate with me via facetime and messages. That is not the case anymore with AT&T. The monthly bill goes down when you are done with the contract (or earlier if you switch to a data share plan). My 5S it is still OK so I am not going to upgrade until it no longer works, it does not support the latest version of iOS or if it is so slow with the latest version of iOS that it is practically unusable. My guess is that some people think the same way.

 

[jweinraub]

Well, let's be honest. People on these boards can appreciate the technology behind 3D touch, the A9 chip, and camera, but the masses really don't care. I can't think of a single person that was like "oooh, I need 3D touch." The masses need something more flashy and tangible. Though, that is just my opinion.

3D touch, the A9, and the camera add to the experience, but they don't substantially improve/change it like a larger screen or a new design. I anticipated lackluster response, but what do I know.

Well I can appreciate the technology or the engineering rather involved in making it happen. But I couldn't care less about 3DTouch, or even Siri for that matter. I think for me, a technogeek like the majority of us most likely here, want better battery. By thinning the phone and sacrificing battery is the dumbest thing there is and people are now voting with their wallet. If Apple sees that, I doubt it. Sir Jony has free reign and he seems to be like those millennial skinny jeans thing going on with their devices. Apple has never been about form OVER function, they always had it been an equal marriage.

 

[nt5672]

I'm on a 5s and do not want the 6 or 6+ large size. I'm holding out on a 5-series size unit. Performance is fine on my 5s still.

As long as the new one is not handicapped.

 

[2457282]

If I am not mistaken, the general cycle is that the quarter is usually lower than the previous quarter (the article seems to say this). I checked and I believe that in 2015, it was about 20% lower. So speculating that it would be lower is not much news. 30 vs 20 percent is also not big, considering that the previous quarter sold more than last year, so in volume it still may come out the same. Bottom line is this is all speculation, this article and my comments. Let wait and see. Too early to panic here.

 

[TROLLY]

I've got an iPhone 6 128GB. I think I'll keep using it, until the day comes, when Apple introduce a 256GB iPhone. I doubt that will happen any time soon, though.

 

[kyleh22]

If the 6s wasn't so thick I would have upgraded my 6....not.

 

[TROLLY]

I think the 5S, has been the nicest looking iPhone to date. It's not too big, not to small. The 6/6S isn't so pocket size friendly.

If I could get a 5S, with 6S architecture, including the 128GB hard drive, I'd buy one in a freakin' heartbeat!

 

[AdamskiUK]

Some on this board are saying the 5/5S is in anyway comparable to the 6S. I went from a 5 to a 6S and it's blissful. Using the 5 was a stressful experience - from Safari reloading tabs to apps taking forever to boot up. I use my brother's iPad Air 1 and the tabs reload on Safari CONSTANTLY with no background apps running. The 6S was a brilliant upgrade for anyone using anything older than a 6. That's how Apple has always marketed to its typical middle-class consumers - 2 year upgrade cycles. The S line is ALWAYS the better line to be in with that cycle - my 4S was brilliant but the 5 was a lacklustre improvement.

 

[pjarvi]

The 6 sold well since many people with a 4 or 4S rightfully assumed the 5 was nothing wore than a stop-gap device lacking features and held out for the more refined 6 instead. The 6S has nothing more than gimmicks tacked onto the 6 and provides no core feature worth upgrading for. The 7 will have the potential to move 6 owners to upgrade if Apple takes improving battery and storage seriously, not to mention having improved audio if they drop the 3.5mm jack.

 

[lhammer610]

Actually, the problem is that the US dollar has strengthened making the already expensive iPhone even more expensive in many countries. I like that Apple keeps prices consistent across the world, but it's time for those prices to be dropped across the board. This is even more important as smartphones have become mature as a class of products and people now need to upgrade less often.

The pricing changes due to the strong dollar are ludicrous and is bean counter driven. With manufacturing in China, the cost of the phone has not changed. But the profit in dollars goes down - even as much of that profit is kept in the original currency and not repatriated. It is just a paper charge.

Instead of maintaining market share and stabilizing prices through strong/weak dollars, US companies send their foreign customers through waves of price changes. That is counterproductive to long-term growth and profitability. It is driven by quarterly profit expectations and stock prices. This is typical of short sighted US corporate management.

 

[X38]

I used to upgrade to the latest top-of-the-line model in the first hour of sales every two years since the first iPhone came out. But now I'm still holding on to my 5S with no plans to upgrade because there is no 4" screen version of the top-of-the-line model. Unless there is an iPhone 7+ with a 4" screen this year, I'll be skipping another year. I doubt this is the only factor in the 30% drop, but given that most iPhone users I know either won't upgrade past the 5S like me because they are unhappy with the phablet size screens or have upgraded to the phablet models and regret it, the lack of at 4" model is certainly a big factor in the drop. Which should have been predictable.