High prices start to ruin the joy of using a product

[Nik]

For me personally, I could afford buying an iPhone X. But I will not buy it.

The prices seem so out of line that it becomes uncomfortable to use it. Will someone attempt to steal the device? Will it drop to the ground eventually? Once you need to handle a device with kid gloves, it decreses the joy of using the product.

Who feels this way too?

 

[ANTAWNM26]

Oh trust me they test the waters on how much they can get away with. And we allow it

 

[joeblow7777]

Pay a little bit more for Apple Care + and you don't really need to stress about breaking it.
I guess there's not much you can do to ease your mind about theft though, but maybe just don't wave it around and flaunt it in public. If no one is paying close attention to you, it's just another smartphone, and you're no more of a likely target than the millions of other people carrying a smartphone.

 

[JPack]

If you have to treat it with kid gloves, then I don't think you can really afford it. I don't treat my Tesla with kid gloves or only charge to 90% to prolong the battery life. Whether it's a car or phone or house, it's an inanimate object not a living thing. Those objects are there to serve people, not the other way around. Treat your loved ones with care, not your iPhone.

 

[Dented]

For me it's too much. Of course I want an X, it's a great iPhone, but I simply can't begin to justify that expense. Since we all knew the price of it some time ago, the upshot is that I didn't bother waiting for this reveal when my upgrade was a due a month or two ago, and just went ahead and got an SE for next to nothing.

The problem is, for people like me and I suspect many on this forum, not being able to afford the X does not mean I'm happy to pay a flagship price for the 8, when the 8 isn't the brilliant new flagship iPhone I want. If I can't have the best new iPhone, I'm much happier to just wait this cycle out and save my money.

 

[Nik]

The problem is, for people like me and I suspect many on this forum, not being able to afford the X does not mean I'm happy to pay a flagship price for the 8, when the 8 isn't the brilliant new flagship iPhone I want. If I can't have the best new iPhone, I'm much happier to just wait this cycle out and save my money.

I am very curious how widespread that kind of thinking is and how it will impact the behaviour of iPhone upgrades this cycle.

 

[0007776]

I am very curious how widespread that kind of thinking is and how it will impact the behaviour of iPhone upgrades this cycle.

My guess is sales numbers will be lower given the price of the X and that there are also the 8 and 8+. Overall I don't think it will affect sales, but I don't think you will see as high of sales numbers for either the 8 or the X as you saw for previous iPhone launches due to it being split between different product lines.

 

[Dented]

I'm sure profits will be sky high as ever, but I think it'll be on the back of less actual phones sold and we won't see the usual fanfare and specifics over initial sales figures.

 

[sdwaltz]

It barely costs more than the 8 Plus? Truly not understanding why everyone is freaking out about price here.

 

[0007776]

It barely costs more than the 8 Plus? Truly not understanding why everyone is freaking out about price here.

Because the prices were already bordering on too high, and now they increase it again.

 

[Nik]

It barely costs more than the 8 Plus? Truly not understanding why everyone is freaking out about price here.

The 8+ also got more expensive.

 

[deuxani]

It barely costs more than the 8 Plus? Truly not understanding why everyone is freaking out about price here.

So the 8 Plus is a very expensive phone for what you get. Bezels so huge that it looks like a 4 year old phone (which the design basically is). I see it as an iPhone 6SSS. In Europe the 256GB 8 Plus is € 1.089,00 which is already ridiculous for such an outdated design. But then the X.... it's € 1.329,00! That's almost the price of a MacBook Pro. This is still a phone, not a computer or tablet replacement.

I've been reading the comments on Dutch websites and this literally seems the first time that people say the price is really too high for them to justify a purchase. If they keep true to their word is another thing, but this is a sentiment I haven't seen as extreme as this time. People who would normally be first in line to get one now say they will just go for the 8. Maybe Apple wants to position the X as a limited edition phone, produce it in low quantities and just deliver it to the mega enthusiasts.

I personally never even think twice when buying electronics that I want, but when I first saw the release date of November I was hugely disappointed. And then came the price! I was shaking my head and also for me it was the first time I felt the product wasn't worth the price. We'll see what happens when I hold it in my hands

 

[JPIndustrie]

Good I'm glad I'm not the only one feeling put off by the whole thing ...

I suppose we knew everything already ahead of time but I guess we all watched really see to it the rumor machine was wrong ...

It was supposed to be just a pro and consumer line of each category , what happened ? Why is there still an '8' if the X (a premature pre jobs type product thinking if any) clearly shows the home button being obsolete?

We all know things have changed but they weren't supposed to change for the worse.

 

[Nik]

The unique thing this year is, that you buy an already outdated device by choosing the iPhone 8.

 

[manni]

For me personally, I could afford buying an iPhone X. But I will not buy it.

The prices seem so out of line that it becomes uncomfortable to use it. Will someone attempt to steal the device? Will it drop to the ground eventually? Once you need to handle a device with kid gloves, it decreses the joy of using the product.

Who feels this way too?

I know the feeling very well. Over the past 20 years I have spent untold thousands on MacBooks and iPhones and iPads and iPods.

Every purchase cost lots of money but I often had a different "feeling". Where once I felt that, yes I was spending a lot, I was getting something uniquely special, better than the competition something really exceptional. In short I *wanted* to spend that money. In the last few years it is different - I am in the apple ecosystem, I don't like android or windows, I just sort of grudgingly accept paying over the odds, knowing they are milking us with things like the extra price for more storage. It inevitably leaves a sense of resentment.

I think some of this is down to the market maturing especially with phones. Some of it is down to the fact that the company's CEO is no longer a visionary, if flawed, genius who felt a deep love for the company but is instead an accountant. I don't think Tim Cook is stupid - he's likely very smart. He knows exactly how much money he can squeeze out of people. What he lacks, aside from taste and vision, is any instinctive understanding of how a customer might feel. He is good at putting us over a barrel, leaving us with the feeling - that word again - that we don't have a choice to spend more and more.

Smart business in the short and medium term but I am less convinced how good it is for the long term.

 

[sna3]

IMO a phone should never reach $1000 ... $650-$750 is the range for me allways.

 

[Zackmd1]

Another point of mine on the iPhone X on top of the price... If we are truly to believe that Face ID is the future of phone unlocking, then why do the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus still include Touch ID with no Face ID? Wouldn't that be something you would include on all of your "Flagship" products if you truly believed that it was the way forward?

The answer is that Apple knows Face ID is a step backwards but couldn't get under display Touch ID working and a rear facing Touch ID was not a option for some reason. I would not be surprised if an iFixit Teardown of the X reveals provisions for an under display Touch ID sensor.

 

[Patriot24]

I'm much happier to just wait this cycle out and save my money.

I understand your logic up to this point. Do you think they're going to lower the price next year or the year after?

Or are you saying you're going to purchase the year-old X then, at which point it is priced at the current 8/8 Plus levels and is not the flagship?

It seems that once you enter into this thinking, you'll never get back to a place where you'll be satisfied.

 

[iFan83]

honestly who really cares anymore, its just a cell phone. iPhones were really cool when it was new but at this point my iPhone 6 is more phone than I need, cell phones are peaking. oled screen and trutone or whatever its called are really not needed on a small phone screen, I watch movies/TV on my big screen TV not on a cell phone. Its hard to justify spending the big $$$ on a new phone.

 

[Nik]

I understand your logic up to this point. Do you think they're going to lower the price next year or the year after?

Or are you saying you're going to purchase the year-old X then, at which point it is priced at the current 8/8 Plus levels and is not the flagship?

It seems that once you enter into this thinking, you'll never get back to a place where you'll be satisfied.

He is stretching out the time between upgrades I guess.

 

[Zackmd1]

I understand your logic up to this point. Do you think they're going to lower the price next year or the year after?

Or are you saying you're going to purchase the year-old X then, at which point it is priced at the current 8/8 Plus levels and is not the flagship?

It seems that once you enter into this thinking, you'll never get back to a place where you'll be satisfied.

Apple has been known to drop prices of their big step prototype devices once manufacturing and availability becomes more manageable. I would not be surprised if we see an iPhone 9 device next year that is like the X but closer to the iPhone 8 pricing. Still expensive though...

 

[Patriot24]

honestly who really cares anymore, its just a cell phone. iPhones were really cool when it was new but at this point my iPhone 6 is more phone than I need, cell phones are peaking. oled screen and trutone or whatever its called are really not needed on a small phone screen, I watch movies/TV on my big screen TV not on a cell phone. Its hard to justify spending the big $$$ on a new phone.

TrueTone is one of the most important advancements made today across the lineup. Once you see it, you will not be able to look at any other screen ever again without wishing it had TrueTone.

 

[Dented]

I understand your logic up to this point. Do you think they're going to lower the price next year or the year after?

Or are you saying you're going to purchase the year-old X then, at which point it is priced at the current 8/8 Plus levels and is not the flagship?

It seems that once you enter into this thinking, you'll never get back to a place where you'll be satisfied.

That may well be the case. Maybe I'm off the train for good? We'll find out next time I'm due an upgrade I guess.

My vain hope is that maybe once the anniversary buzz is over, when OLED is old news, and if the 8 (or the X) is a bit of a sales bust, just maybe they'll have a bit of a reset and get back to producing X level hardware at 8 level pricing. Even Apple ultimately have to follow the market.

 

[Patriot24]

Apple has been known to drop prices of their big step prototype devices once manufacturing and availability becomes more manageable. I would not be surprised if we see an iPhone 9 device next year that is like the X but closer to the iPhone 8 pricing. Still expensive though...

Sure, but the conceit of the post is that they are not comfortable a) paying a high price, and b) paying a relatively high price for a phone that is not the current flagship. So, even if Apple cascades the tech down the line (which they will), neither of OP's conditions are met next year either. You either shell out big bucks for the top-of-the-line, or you shell out relatively less big bucks for a second tier device.

It is possible that next year we go back to a two phone system where one is the X form factor and they add an X Plus form factor, but the prices are not going to go back down to $649 no matter how hard people wish it.
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That may well be the case. Maybe I'm off the train for good? We'll find out next time I'm due an upgrade I guess.

My vain hope is that maybe once the anniversary buzz is over, when OLED is old news, and if the 8 (or the X) is a bit of a sales bust, just maybe they'll have a bit of a reset and get back to producing X level hardware at 8 level pricing. Even Apple ultimately have to follow the market.

I don't think you have to be off of the train for good. I just think people need to reconcile what they're willing to pay with the lineup.

Unfortunately, the rest of the market for smartphones is also trending upward as people replace their laptops with smartphones as primary computing devices. I'm not sure we're ever going to get back to the good old days of mid-hundreds prices.

 

[manni]

Not wanting to turn this into an "apple is doomed" thread but I think this video of Jobs sums up so much of what people have been writing here:

When he speaks of the need for "feeling in the heart for wanting to help the customer" you know how different he is from Cook. For Cook, I am sure, a sale is a sale (like most people in business) it will show up the same on the spreadsheet. For Jobs the determination was to create something special, I think it would sincerely trouble him to have known products were being sold to people who didn't feel joy about it.

I think if we had the feeling that the latter really remained the key objective at Apple there would be far less complaining about the price.