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Did Apple just kill the case industry?

S

Screwtape

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 10, 2009
153
0
I've been meaning to purchase a case for my iPhone 4 since I bought it, but mostly I've been waiting for a good choice (and by that, I mean waiting for switcheasy). But now that I can get a bumper or another case for free, I don't see the point in purchasing one.... And I doubt I'm the only one with this opinion.

So did Apple just kill the case industry? Because I can't imagine they're happy about this.
 
First of all, the bumpers are ugly as can be, and do almost nothing to protect the iphone, so lots of people will buy other cases. And the "case industry" produces cases for lots of phones, so there's lots more to come from them.
 
i'm sure apple is paying them. so they probably don't care where they get their money. Either apple or a customer. Right?
 
Actually this is good news for many case manufactures since Apple can not produce enough bumpers. This means that Apple will be buying at least 1 million cases for its customers.
 
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No they didn't
 
Screwtape said:
I've been meaning to purchase a case for my iPhone 4 since I bought it, but mostly I've been waiting for a good choice (and by that, I mean waiting for switcheasy). But now that I can get a bumper or another case for free, I don't see the point in purchasing one.... And I doubt I'm the only one with this opinion.

So did Apple just kill the case industry? Because I can't imagine they're happy about this.
Click to expand...

Are you serious? There are myriad different tastes in style and ther will be a myriad of cases from manufacturers hoping to cash in on this fact. Think first...post later.
 
Nah I don't think so. Personally I'm after a very slim case (cygnett frost, incipio feather etc) so although I'll still claim my free case, if there isn't a slim one in the options list then I'll probs still buy one at a later date. And of course as others have said, Apple will be paying for the ones they give us for free.
 
vistadude said:
First of all, the bumpers are ugly as can be, and do almost nothing to protect the iphone, so lots of people will buy other cases. And the "case industry" produces cases for lots of phones, so there's lots more to come from them.
Click to expand...

They're about the LEAST ugly cases made. That said, i'd rather break my iPhone in half and be forced to buy a new one than to use ANY case.
 
Do you think all the 3rd party case manufacturers are going to give Apple free cases? NO!!! Apple will allow you to get a free case, that they were already going to sell on their site, that they bought at wholesale. Then, they will "eat", that wholesale price. Seriously, KILL THE INDUSTRY???
 
Depends, is apple going to let you choose cases from any case company? Or are they just going to source a select few? I predict some case companies are going to get hurt, there are just so many of them that they couldn't possibly source all of them.

So yes, apple is applying a bandaid to appease customers while hurting some 3rd party companies in the process.
 
uiop. said:
No. People buy more than one case over the course of their ownership of a phone.
Click to expand...

I have had my iP4 since July 1st. I own a Speck Candyshell, Switcheasy Nude, bumper case, Waterfield sleeve (two different ones) and one other case whose name escapes me.

I do believe I am personally supporting the entire case industry myself....they aren't going anywhere. :D

Steve
 
vistadude said:
First of all, the bumpers are ugly as can be, and do almost nothing to protect the iphone, so lots of people will buy other cases. And the "case industry" produces cases for lots of phones, so there's lots more to come from them.
Click to expand...

we arent getting bumpers, we are getting 'other cases'

they will give us the option between a couple different kinds because they cant make enough bumpers fast enough
 
2 things to remember here:

1. Apple will buy the cases like they usually do. The suppliers and manufacturers are not going to miss out.

2. Apple buys the cases at cost and retails them for profit. Look at the bumper for example they cost £25 in the UK. It probably costs £5 to make. Total cost may come to £10 with distribution etc.

So lets say the overall cost of one of those things is £10. Apple make £15 profit.

Now lets say they give away 3 million cases which each retail for £25 but have a cost of £10.

Cost = £30,000,000
Retail = £75,000,000

So it's still expensive, but not as expensive as every one is making out!

*My figures are just for example. They probably make ton's more profit on them, I don't know.
Realistically the overall cost of one is probably less than £5 *
 
Stiss said:
2 things to remember here:

1. Apple will buy the cases like they usually do. The suppliers and manufacturers are not going to miss out.

2. Apple buys the cases at cost and retails them for profit. Look at the bumper for example they cost £25 in the UK. It probably costs £5 to make. Total cost may come to £10 with distribution etc.

So lets say the overall cost of one of those things is £10. Apple make £15 profit.

Now lets say they give away 3 million cases which each retail for £25 but have a cost of £10.

Cost = £30,000,000
Retail = £75,000,000

So it's still expensive, but not as expensive as every one is making out!

*My figures are just for example. They probably make ton's more profit on them, I don't know.
Realistically the overall cost of one is probably less than £5 *
Click to expand...

£5 to make a bumper? more like 5p!
 
Exactly!

I'm just trying to demonstrate that it's not going to cost the $90,000,000 (£58,000,000) that people say it will.
 
They might have killed the wholesale $8-$10 case industry for the iPhone 4, but nothing beyond that. And they will not have killed it, they will actually have created a ton of sales for it.

People may opt for a less expensive case rather than paying for a more expensive one, but some people will still buy more expensive cases, or ones not included in the offer.

Apple rounding up what is going to probably amount to 3-5 million actual cases, is going to take a lot of work from them and other case makers.
 
If Apple don't provide a switcheasy option (very unlikely that they will include them, as they don't sell their products in Apple stores), then I'll just pick some random case from the list that I've never heard of to try out 8]
 
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