Barclays Proposes Apple Could Lessen iPhone 8 Pricing Impact by Including Apple Music/iCloud Bundle

[Xavalon]

I believe that not many people will pay 1000 bucks / 1100 euros (likely) just for this iPhone special edition.

Many - in the EU at least - look for financing their iPhone through their mobile subscription. And the mainstream iPhone 7s (might be called 8) will be the popular one because telco’s can’t ask say a monthly 65 euro subscription for the iPhone special edition and 40 euro for the mainstream iPhone. Everybody will select the mainstream iPhone with a more valuable subscription.

Yeah yeah, the OLED screen will be gorgeous but Samsung puts an AMOLED screen in their $250 smartphones for years.

If you have to buy the smartphone yourself, then you look for a midrange smartphone 200-400 euros. Ask everyone who bought their smartphone themselves.

Apple knows this, and won’t be looking to make the 1000 bucks special edition ‘cheaper’ by bundling other services. Don’t believe that.

 

[leobullet]

With the exchange rate on the Canadian dollar, that would mean we will have to pay around CD$1,600 for the iPhone with all of the bells and whistles.

iPads and iPhones have already gotten too expensive for many people here in Canada. Now they look like the price of an iPhone 8 will be too expensive for most people here.

Apple almost sealed their own doom back in the 80's when they forgot that the longevity of their company depended on getting as many of their computers into as many homes as possible.

Now, as it was then, maybe the time has come to look at other platforms like many of my friends have already done.

 

[leobullet]

Apple could reduce the price simply by reducing the amount of profit from each unit!

That is always the decision every manufacturer has to make, whether they can increase their profit through the volume of sales or through the pricing of their product.

Apple made this same mistake back in the 80's, as well as being too restrictive with their software codes.

Apple almost priced themselves out of business, back then, when the price per unit was too high for the majority of consumers.

It looks like they have forgotten the hard earned knowledge they earned back then.

 

[timborama]

The iPhone is gonna be this price period whether they give away subscriptions or not. The Note 8 is basically the same price without any of that and who knows how they will compare. Just don’t see your point

I guess you wouldn't. :rollseyes:

My point is, at least with Note, the freebie you're getting is something tangible, 128GB SD, DeX, etc. Apple Music or iCloud doesn't really have value and costs Apple nothing. And ultimately ends up costing the customer real $ in the end by locking them in. Just sell the item at an honest price, none of this "wait there's more..." BS.

 

[HoosBruce]

I guess you wouldn't. :rollseyes:

My point is, at least with Note, the freebie you're getting is something tangible, 128GB SD, DeX, etc. Apple Music or iCloud doesn't really have value and costs Apple nothing. And ultimately ends up costing the customer real $ in the end by locking them in. Just sell the item at an honest price, none of this "wait there's more..." BS.

DeX...? Umm that’s not free at all...and actually does cost “the customer real money”. It’s also very primitive, limited, and not very useful yet.

For a lot of people having a free Apple Music or iCloud subscription is “tangible” and quite helpful to them.

This is all hypothetical anyways bc it was simply a rumor about Apple potentially giving the user a free service for purchasing their high end smartphone.

 

[Abazigal]

That is always the decision every manufacturer has to make, whether they can increase their profit through the volume of sales or through the pricing of their product.

Apple made this same mistake back in the 80's, as well as being too restrictive with their software codes.

Apple almost priced themselves out of business, back then, when the price per unit was too high for the majority of consumers.

It looks like they have forgotten the hard earned knowledge they earned back then.

Yeah, it’s almost as though Apple didn’t have three other cheaper iPhone models out in the market for people unwilling to pay the sticker price of the iPhone X.

 

[sniffies]

Ain't no gon' happn

Look at overpriced MacBook Pros with Touch Bars last year. All we got was some meager discounts on stupid adapters.

 

[scaramoosh]

I want a new iPhone 5c, I loved that little plastic phone as it was solidly built and plastic is better than Metal.
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Ain't no gon' happn

Look at overpriced MacBook Pros with Touch Bars last year. All we got was some meager discounts on stupid adapters.

Yeah I got a Windows Laptop because the new MacBook keyboards are horrible... rather nice clicky keys than a touch bar. Maybe this is the year I go back to Android, why would you upgrade to the 8 to be unsatisfied with your purchase know there is a better one? The LG V30 will be a lot cheaper, it's £150 cheaper than the Note 8, which is meant to be cheaper than the iPhone X. Everyone wants £70 a month for the Note 8 with a usable amount of Data... what is the iPhone gonna be? £80?

 

[Rob_2811]

With the exchange rate on the Canadian dollar, that would mean we will have to pay around CD$1,600 for the iPhone with all of the bells and whistles.

iPads and iPhones have already gotten too expensive for many people here in Canada. Now they look like the price of an iPhone 8 will be too expensive for most people here.

Apple almost sealed their own doom back in the 80's when they forgot that the longevity of their company depended on getting as many of their computers into as many homes as possible.

Now, as it was then, maybe the time has come to look at other platforms like many of my friends have already done.

No doubt you'll be jumped on for pointing this out. The parallels between then and now are there though for those that don't choose to ignore them. Ever increasing range of products, products getting more and more expensive, competition that has a vastly bigger market share. Sound familiar?

People will point to there being cheaper iPhone options but that in itself could become a problem if the line up continues to grow over the coming years. Jobs reined this kind of thing when he returned to Apple, without him they seem to be going back down the road of having a dizzying array of products with minor points of differentiation.

Look at the phone, prior to 2014 there was one iPhone. Now we've got models with 4.7 inch, 5.5 inch and a 4 inch screens, on Tuesday you can add another 5.8 inch device to that list and there are already rumours of another 6.5 inch Note competitor coming next year. Thats five models! The iPad is the same, we've now got four different sizes, same for the laptops.

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

I'm going to say not may average users are shooting in 4k on their iPhone currently. I expect the number of users that will shoot 4k will increase with the new phones. 50% storage savings is over 4k30p if I remember correctly, thus, 4k60p makes it roughly the same size file compared to 4k30p.

Where is the data to back up your "definitively say that the majority of users aren't in danger of filling their iPhones." Please link to sources so I can see the data and see it for myself.

You're correct, most are not shooting 4k right now even though the iPhone supports it. It isn't the default and most have no need for it over 1080 shooting as they'll only ever watch it on their phone or social media.

I can't share internal Apple datasets but can convey them.

 

[tech3475]

The device is not going to cost less. Plus it’s not promised that anything will be bundled with it. This is just a rumor. If the phone comes with something free to soften the price gauge, I’m taking it.
It could come with socks for all I care.

The device price is confirmed all we saying is we need something else like Apple Music AirPods and lots of storage place if the phone is 1k

If you do get air pods for free, you could turn around and sell them and recoup some cost that way.

I said I'd "rather" have a lower price device instead since something like airpods still cost money to make and/or in the case of services cost money in some form (although the latter is more likely as it would vary person to person in terms of usage and potential long term subscriptions).

I know people will say 'sell the free ****' but the problem would be the potential flooding of the market and even then I could still end up with less than what not including them could have and/or additional annoyances I wouldn't want to deal with. In the case of services, I already have (cheaper) alternatives which do the job better for my needs (e.g. Spotify which works on more devices).

I think if Apple really want to impress people and soften the blow, maybe include something that they may not be able to get on their current idevice such as an a wireless charger or a wireless headphone adapter with a good DAC to ease ardent headphone jack supporters (if they have something better than BT on the phone, which is a common complaint). Of course, both of these are unlikely.

 

[Delgibbons]

DeX...? Umm that’s not free at all...and actually does cost “the customer real money”. It’s also very primitive, limited, and not very useful yet.

For a lot of people having a free Apple Music or iCloud subscription is “tangible” and quite helpful to them.

This is all hypothetical anyways bc it was simply a rumor about Apple potentially giving the user a free service for purchasing their high end smartphone.

Preorder a note 8 and you get a free dex station to connect via hdmi to a monitor and provide a computer like experience.

 

[PlainviewX]

You're correct, most are not shooting 4k right now even though the iPhone supports it. It isn't the default and most have no need for it over 1080 shooting as they'll only ever watch it on their phone or social media.

I can't share internal Apple datasets but can convey them.

So no, you can't provide anything to back up your claims then.

 

[cardfan]

You're correct, most are not shooting 4k right now even though the iPhone supports it. It isn't the default and most have no need for it over 1080 shooting as they'll only ever watch it on their phone or social media.

I can't share internal Apple datasets but can convey them.

I would say that is definitely the case. Most users are unwashed. They probably just think they're shooting or viewing in 4k. And even if some people went to settings and enabled it, 99% of those users have probably never actually seen these videos in 4k. Airplay doesn't do it. Apple TV doesn't do it.

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

I would say that is definitely the case. Most users are unwashed. They probably just think they're shooting or viewing in 4k. And even if some people went to settings and enabled it, 99% of those users have probably never actually seen these videos in 4k. Airplay doesn't do it. Apple TV doesn't do it.

Even if the Apple TV could push the content, most don't own a 4K TV anyways.

 

[cardfan]

Even if the Apple TV could push the content, most don't own a 4K TV anyways.

And if they do own one, it's most likely a walmart special with no hdr. But they have to make the switch. It doesn't matter what "most" own, it matters what the high income few own. That is Apple's market. Besides, it's beyond pathetic they haven't provided a way for iphone owners to view 4k iphone video on their tv.

 

[leobullet]

No doubt you'll be jumped on for pointing this out. The parallels between then and now are there though for those that don't choose to ignore them. Ever increasing range of products, products getting more and more expensive, competition that has a vastly bigger market share. Sound familiar?

People will point to there being cheaper iPhone options but that in itself could become a problem if the line up continues to grow over the coming years. Jobs reined this kind of thing when he returned to Apple, without him they seem to be going back down the road of having a dizzying array of products with minor points of differentiation.

Look at the phone, prior to 2014 there was one iPhone. Now we've got models with 4.7 inch, 5.5 inch and a 4 inch screens, on Tuesday you can add another 5.8 inch device to that list and there are already rumours of another 6.5 inch Note competitor coming next year. Thats five models! The iPad is the same, we've now got four different sizes, same for the laptops.

Thank you Rob, for expanding on what many people see as a disturbing trend within Apple today.
Personally, I have always been rooting for Apple and it's rags, or should I say garage to riches, almost back to the garage, to even greater riches, story.
The fact that Jobs never forgot the lessons he learned from that roller coaster ride and by remembering them, was able to steer Apple to the heights they attained both in technological advances and market share, should be something chiseled in stone for Apple.
Unfortunately, as I see it, someone at Apple destroyed that stone with dynamite.
What makes Apple any different than simply one of the many choices, for the vast majority of consumers?
The difference seems to be Apple telling us "We are the most sophisticated, versatile choice but only for the upper income consumers. You lesser mortals, who want the prestige of owning an Apple, have to settle for one of the lesser, pared down versions."

As always, if you want a new idea, look in an old book. I guess the lessons Jobs learned are now in an "old book".


Sent on the fly, from my old i.