Demand for Smartphones is Slowing, Says Apple Supplier TSMC

Bought a 2020 SE2 for my daughter, used for $175 here in Korea. With the SE3 having upgrades that were of little use to us in the real world, we decided it far better to go with the SE2. It was 1/3 the price of a new SE3, given taxes and fees here in Korea. What we really wanted in this phone was more battery than they gave us. I think Apple focused too much on what carriers wanted (5G) and how much they could squeeze out of the consumer. They lost track of what customers wanted.
 
forrie said:
I think many of us are just tech-tired, too. Buying expensive mobile devices for every iteration, every year, with all the publicity and fanfare... it's getting old, and I can certainly relate. In the case of Apple, I would much rather see their iterations be far more significant, innovative. Perhaps they will take a hint. Perhaps not.
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I think a lot of the fanfare from Apple releases has gone. The first few iterations of the iPhone were exciting, but after the iPhone 6, it's just been the expected incremental improvements IMO.

I am still somewhat shocked by the price of new iPhones. The iPhone 13 Pro (6.1") in Australia is AU$1700 - that's $200 more than the price of the M1 MacBook Air, which is arguably a more useful computing device (while obviously not doubling as a phone, GPS, and camera).

But I guess for a lot of people their phone is their primary computing device, so maybe the sticker-shock is not so great? I view a phone as mostly a communication device, rather than a media consumption or creation device, so I guess my idea of "value for money" is a bit skewed. I have some nice digital cameras, so don't rely on the phone for this purpose.

Maybe the iPhone SE is for someone like me?
 
“Everyone” has one. New features are hard to come by these days. They are getting more expensive. The days of carrier subsidies are done. A new iPhone isn’t “needed” on an annual basis for most people.
This isn’t surprising.
 
turbineseaplane said:
I would have bought a new one years ago if they weren't all so large
Mini series isn't quite "mini" enough for me.

(SE1 user)

Everyone makes basically the same thing - same shape - same sizes -- not nearly enough interesting differentiation in this product category.
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I was a dedicated SE1 user that made the jump to a 13 mini. I feel like it is a decent compromise. With my pinky finger under the bottom, I can swipe the top right corner for control center. It has great battery life as well and I think this is a phone I can hang on to for another 4 years.
 
I suppose like many people, as a general rule I only upgrade when I think a new feature would add significant value to my life. “Significant” is subjective of course, so for me specifically that would be things like at least 5x optical zoom, significantly better low light camera (not sure how to quantity), and at least double storage (I can never have too much).
The jumps in these features are rare enough, but the size of phones for the past been 6 or so years have completely turned me off to any phone upgrades. I like true one-handed phones. I also strongly prefer Touch ID over Face ID. So I’m still using my 2016 SE. I don’t like having a poorer quality camera and small storage, and I wouldn’t mind water resistance, but I just can’t stand big phones.
 
GoodWheaties said:
I was a dedicated SE1 user that made the jump to a 13 mini. I feel like it is a decent compromise. With my pinky finger under the bottom, I can swipe the top right corner for control center. It has great battery life as well and I think this is a phone I can hang on to for another 4 years.
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I wish I liked it more - just not for me
Tried the 12 Mini for a couple days -- just a touch too large

They are also heavier which I don't love -- I don't know..
Just bums me out they won't make a legit smaller phone again, especially after all that talk about "human hand size"

Screen Shot 2022-03-30 at 17.22.17.png
 
TonyC28 said:
The days of carrier subsidies are done.
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This isn’t really true. I didn’t pay for our last two iPhones because we got monthly credits that cover the devices cost. They still have subsidies, they just tie them directly to your service status. If you leave early you have to pay off the remainder of the device cost.
 
Tagbert said:
What would make a new phone exciting to you?
It’s hard to see what changes could be made.
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Keep squared sides, relocate side button back to the top, no camera bump, keep Touch ID, iPhone 12/13 mini size (at MOST; I'll compromise on this one point only).

I'll take whatever camera tech fits in that shell. I don't care *that* much (portrait mode/lighting would be preferred). I'll take whatever SoC fits, also don't care that much; my A9 is still just fine (AR on a handheld device is DoA anyway)

Prefer lightning, but I'll accept usb-c (despite the garbage it still is; don't believe the lies, folks; it's still usb)
 
Tagbert said:
You mean, last time you paid full price in one lump sum. You most likely pay for it over the course of the contract through higher monthly rates.
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Well this year I traded in the iPhone SE I got for $50 from Cricket to Verizon. They were running a special where if you traded in pretty much any iPhone you got like $800 off a new one. So I am paying I think $8 or 9 a month for my iPhone 12 Pro Max.

Next time I’m ready for a new phone I’ll switch to whatever provider is giving a good trade-in/switcher promo. It’s been working out well so far.
 
alexe said:
Good, maybe the rising prices will end this madness where everybody upgrades their phones every year for absolutely no reason.

We've really reached an absurd point in our society where people feel it's a special year if they opt NOT to upgrade to the latest new iPhone for once.

Of course every first world country citizen needs a new phone every year, because why not. What could possibly be wrong with this mentality.
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Why do you feel compelled to judge people you don't know who upgrade every year? Just because you don't upgrade every year doesn't necessarily mean said action is by definition "madness" or that said persons have a problem with their thinking.
 
Lots of hate on the annual upgraders like myself! I’m on the Apple Upgrade program so I pay monthly and get to swap it out each year. I don’t do it because I “need” to, I do it because I like tech. My old phones go back and get reused. If you want to rock your 3GS, you do you.
 
I would like to upgrade to the iPhone 14 Pro later this year, I still have my iPhone 10. It'll be about 4 years.

If it wasn't for the camera upgrade to take better quality photos, I would be fine keeping this phone for another 2 years.
 
I’m just not going to pay hundreds or thousands for a phone every year anymore. And I’m making more money now than I’ve ever made. Also, the cameras and screen and… most things on my current phone are not just good enough, but more than enough for the foreseeable future, no matter how awesome and spec’s out the next generation will be. I hypothesize that until there is major technological breakthroughs or innovations, the rate of year over year growth/sales/demand might have reached its peak. The first (2?) iPhone(s) you could even send a picture message. Now filmmakers are shooting feature films on them. People constantly **** on the incremental updates and “lack of innovation”, but really we’ve been quite spoiled as we have catapulted into the technological future/now. Don’t get me wrong, I, too, am “bored” with the updates in that I’m finally content with what I have for a while. While technology is always advancing, I think 2000-2015 was HUGE leap but I’m not sure we can always expect things to move so fast.
 
iBreatheApple said:
People constantly **** on the incremental updates and “lack of innovation”,
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Largely because there is not really much innovation anymore
It’s incremental upgrades to existing feature sets, which is fine.

But as you said… it makes it pretty easy to get bored and not very interested in upgrading.
 
4jasontv said:
This isn’t really true. I didn’t pay for our last two iPhones because we got monthly credits that cover the devices cost. They still have subsidies, they just tie them directly to your service status. If you leave early you have to pay off the remainder of the device cost.
Click to expand...
Yea I guess that’s true. Good point.
 
I don't think it was ever common for the majority of people to upgrade every year.

Sure... some enthusiasts do... but they're not the norm.

I would say people used to upgrade every 2-3 years... but now they're stretching it to 3-4 years or even 4-5 years.
 
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