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iPhone XR If the iPhone XR is "selling poorly" then..
- Thread starter wakinghour
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Raist3001
macrumors 65816
There is a quote form Steve Jobs where he says something very similar.....
"They cared about making a lot of money... they had this wonderful thing... they got very greedy, and instead of following the original trajectory of the original vision which was to make this thing an appliance and get this out there to as many people as possible, they went for profits. And they made outlandish profits for about four years. One of the most profitable companies in America for four years. And what that cost them, was their future. Because what they should've been doing is making rational profits, and going for market share... would've had a 33% market share right now, maybe even higher... now it's got a single-digit market share and falling. And there's no way to ever get that moment in time back... [it] will die, in another few years."
Can you guess which Product Steve was talking about?
CWallace
macrumors G5
Is it, though? iOS 12 is specifically designed to improve performance on years-old iPhones, extending their usable life. That is not my idea of "anti-consumer". Apple themselves note that in many (if not most) Western (affluent) markets, they have reached the saturation point where people are not buying iPhones because the one they have continues to work fine for them and even if a new one was still at the old $699 entry point, people would not buy them. So while I have no doubt the $999+ is having an impact, getting the iPhone X last year or XS this year for $699 likely would not have resulted in many multiples more units selling.
But what would that approach be? I suppose we could go back to two-year subsidized contracts where instead of paying $1000 for the phone up front, we pay $1000 more in carrier fees over the two years, but is that really progress? Or sure, we could demand Apple reduce the price of their flagship model back to the $699 it used to be be (before the iPhone 7 EIS), but the Tier One Android OEMs (like Samsung) are charging close to the four figures that Apple is for their flagships, as well.
The Mac, of course.
But let us not forget that when he introduced the iPhone, not only did we have to pay the full retail price for it, we also had to commit to a two-year contract on top of it. So we did not even benefit from a subsidized contract price like most every other cellphone offered.
And then there was the outrage when the iPhone 3G was launched with a subsidized price, but those of us who were still under the original iPhone contract were not eligible if we upgraded (though eventually the stink raised did result in as I recall a $100 rebate or something to recover some of the full retail price we had to pay).
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The-Real-Deal82
macrumors P6
The US carrier model is not something I’m familiar with as we have never had the subsidies in Europe you guys enjoyed. We’ve always paid for our iPhones in full as well as the carrier deal. If Apple are encouraging people to keep their phones longer and this report that sales are falling is Apples plan, then great.
From experience I’d say a lot of people I know lost interest in the ‘latest phone’ when the prices started creeping up. The ability to upgrade because you can started to dwindle when the bills increased but these days iPhones are also not much different each year. Still, it would be nice iPhone current iPhones were still £699 rather than last years model becoming the most appealing iPhone on offer.
Raist3001
macrumors 65816
Totally agree. Although, paying your phone off in 24 months is sort of like having the 2 year contract but without all the carrier fees, and still be upgrade ready in 2 years.
Too many phones...Well, too many monster phones, that I agree with. But will Apple care to keep those of us who want a smaller, less cutting edge phone. If their sales are down, maybe they’d get a boost from those of us they appear to have left behind.
Hope my SE lasts a long time...
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Perhaps if they made phones for people other than basketball players, they could sell more phones 🙂
Bring back the SE!
smoking monkey
macrumors 68020
Smoke and mirrors unfortunately. But yes, the price of the handset is 310 US.
Unfortunately the carriers have been really sneaky and upped the price in the contract in other ways that basically forces you to stay with that carrier.
I was going to get one, but once I checked the fine print I realised that it was all a bit too dodgy for my liking.
The-Real-Deal82
macrumors P6
That’s well wide of the mark for someone who should really know more about iPhones from regularly contributing here.
xaqt93
macrumors 6502a
Just going to give a comment...I work for Verizon at the moment as a sales rep and I can tell you that the iPhone XR is not selling nearly as well as I thought it would. In fact we haven’t really had anyone buy that phone. I mean, I know its a pretty awesome phone, but a lot of people are buying the iPhone X which we just ran out of stock on and I don’t think we are getting more anytime soon. Anyway, I just don’t see any of the iPhones this year selling well at all. Most customers that are coming in are asking for the iPhone 8, and after educating the customer, they usually end up getting the more expensive iPhone X or go for a iPhone Xs. I try and get the customers to get the iPhone XR is money is an issue, but most customers don’t even know it is even a phone that exists which is funny to me as we have commercials.
The-Real-Deal82
macrumors P6
In the UK apparently the iPhone 8 is selling very well at the moment as there are some cracking deals out there. Consumers don’t seem to be chasing the latest and greatest these days as prices have got silly and the same experience can be had on slightly older units. I was chatting to a guy in CPW here who said like yourself that this years devices appear to be struggling compared to previous years.
You yourself point out the iPhone 8 is selling the highest. It’s because it’s superior to the iPhone XR. Next year, everyone will be getting the iPhone XS for cheaper. No ones gonna bother with the XR.
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It’s true. I can list out the facts which prove the iPhone 8 Plus is superior to the XR in many ways. Mainly the display, camera and the 3D Touch motor haptics are inferior to the 8 Plus.
The trouble with threads like this is that it’s all just hearsay and rumours.
My wife ordered an iPhone XR here in the UK on Saturday. It was a Black Friday deal with Vodafone. On Monday she was told that demand was so high she’d have to wait for at least a week before her order was even processed. Now it was a very good deal and there could be other stuff going on that we don’t know about. Basically it doesn’t prove anything.
My wife ordered an iPhone XR here in the UK on Saturday. It was a Black Friday deal with Vodafone. On Monday she was told that demand was so high she’d have to wait for at least a week before her order was even processed. Now it was a very good deal and there could be other stuff going on that we don’t know about. Basically it doesn’t prove anything.
Maybe you can list the facts why the iPhone 8 Plus is ‘better’ to the XR, but does the consumer really care about the technical details? I highly doubt that. General consumers will see the new form factor with the XR and Face ID with new colors, and the XR shares a lot of similarities as well to the XS. The XR is not an inferior product as you make it appear.
Higher resolution and a better screen
Better camera
A proper 3DT motor
The lack of a dual camera is a deal breaker.
Raist3001
macrumors 65816
The Display on the XR does look very good. Even though it is not 1080p. In my opinion, the issue is not that the display is inferior, because honestly, side by side with my wife's 7+, its tough to tell the difference. Even next to my X its tough to tell the difference. What is hard to swallow is apples marketing campaign that attempts to make you believe this is the best LCD for the price. Apple is charging a premium price for a display that is less then full HD in 2018 when there are other manufactures offering 2k AMOLED displays for half the cost. Is the old saying that good is good enough in this case correct? And unfortunately, apple is setting the precedent for pricing, as we can all see that other manufacturers are now following. At these prices, we are approaching Computer pricing. It's madness I say....MADNESS 🙂
ftaok
macrumors 604
There's no argument that the Xr is priced as a premium product (the Xs and Max are priced even higher). However, I disagree that Apple is charging a premium price for the display. The LCD on the Xr is high quality, no doubt. Is it the best LCD screen out there, debatable. Is it better than screens using other tech, maybe.
I submit that Apple is charging a premium on the Xr for all of the other stuff that's in it. World class processor and top-notch FaceID components are the reasons that they are charging a premium. The screen is just along for the ride.
Now the reason that Apple is touting the screen (Liquid Retina) is because they need to market the Xr as something that is not just an afterthought of the Xs/Max. So hence the Liquid Retina display that is quite similar to the screen used in the 8. Maybe the screen is better, or perhaps it's calibrated differently to get the colors to "pop".
Agggh. Maybe I'm just being pedantic.
burgman
macrumors 68040
Raist3001
macrumors 65816
Apple is charging a premium price for a handset that includes a sub par full HD display. That was my point. We had top notch internals in the 6+, 7+ and 8+ and all had a 1080P display for the premium price.
Well, its probably the best LCD Apple has produced. But still just above 720p in 2018. To be clear, I am not saying the display is bad. Because it is not. For the price, the display should have been liquid retina 1080p. But we will get that in 2019 🙂
Oh I agree. The fact that a little better than a 720P display is along for the ride is what is tough to swallow at the premium price. Apple was always charging premium prices for the PLUS models which had a 1080p Display.
ftaok
macrumors 604
I agree with much of what you say, however, keep this in mind.
The Xr is priced lower than what the 8+ (and 7+ I think) were introduced at. The Xr adds the FaceID components, which have been reported as being very expensive. So for $50 less than the 8+, the Xr gives you FaceID, but takes away the 1080p screen and dual cameras.
Or alternatively, you can think of it this way. For only $50 more, the Xr gives you FaceID and a larger screen than the 8.
Either way, it's still not that satisfying to some. I get it. If I were in the market for an iPhone with a 1080p screen, I'd be upset too. As it is, the dual camera is what I want most, so that's the item that pisses me off, not the screen.
Raist3001
macrumors 65816
,
When the 8+ was released, the 64gb version was $799, while the 256gb version was $949
The XR 64gb is $749, the 128gb is $799 while the 256gb is $899.
So yes, 50 dollars cheaper 🙂 For the extra 50 dollars, could we have had a 1080p display? These prices are not entry level by any means as some folks like to say.
When the 8+ was released, the 64gb version was $799, while the 256gb version was $949
The XR 64gb is $749, the 128gb is $799 while the 256gb is $899.
So yes, 50 dollars cheaper 🙂 For the extra 50 dollars, could we have had a 1080p display? These prices are not entry level by any means as some folks like to say.
Well, that's certainly another way to look at it.
I agree. Since buying the OLED X, I can never go back to LCD. So the XR will never appeal to me. And as you said as well, the dual lens camera set up is important to me.
companies artificially 'sell out' their products time to time to make it seem like demand is higher
the fact is that the new phones are priced $200 too much for this day and age. the proof is everywhere..
but apple fan boys won't admit it and it's sickening. apple could literally release a press release saying "we f'd up, we're dropping the prices" and they'd still make up some bullshhh to defend apple.
The-Real-Deal82
macrumors P6
I would think the reason the iPhone 8/8+ is perhaps selling well is because there are some amazing deals right now. There might only be a £51 difference in price between the 8+ and the XR but on contract you get much more for your money. Consumers are seeing the cheaper offers but prices are starting to come down for the XR now.
I know more people with the XR than the XS right now that’s for sure. Having tested out the XR myself I have to say I was impressed with it. Screen quality was closely comparable to the XS Max and it felt like any other iPhone which we all know is high quality. Unless you are a techy analysing figures on a spec sheet, I don’t think you’re going to care. The XR will stand out as better value for money with an identical experience to the more expensive models.