iPhone Sales Stall Despite Global Smartphone Market Recovery

[rjjacobson]

Agreed. But it sounds like you and your wife have already hit the three-year mark and are not upgrading. Maybe it’ll be four or five years.

Well with all my other apple tech (M2 MacBook Pro 16 inch, M4 iPad Pro 13 in, AWU1) I am on a 2-3 maybe 4 year cycle to upgrade and it finally seems with my 15 PM I am in same boat. I will look at the 48 MP telephoto and see what it adds to the 17 PM but if not much I might wait til the 18 PM to updgrade. I also heard that they are considering aluminum frames for the pros and I like my titanium 15 PM I may keep it longer its pretty rugged unless they give some major improvements in the telephoto (cameras have pushed me to upgrade until now)

 

[Complex757]

Biggest issue is they've had basically the same phone design for five phones in a row while other companies are producing flip, folding and trifold phones.

 

[boak]

Good news for iPhone SE 4 potential customers, as this means Apple will price it very competitively.

 

[AirpodsNow]

The economy isn't the greatest, iphone prices are high, and I think a lot of people are tired of the same design for five phones in a row now with the 12 through 16.

U sure?

 

[bollman]

I haven't looked into it lately, but as I understand it, devices already on lightning prior to the directive could continue to be sold. The SE 2022 was released about six month before it was passed, so it should be fine.

Either way, the new SE will most likely be released in the spring, leaving just a few months without a cheaper iPhone.

Nope, the law says it has to have USB-C to be allowed to be sold.
I have confirmation from Apple, there will be no SE or 14 after that date available from Apple in EU.

 

[Biro]

Was Apple Intelligence supposed to increase phone sales? Because I haven't even turned it on. Everything I've read about it suggests it's not very useful, and that combined with the fact that the OS is training it using everything you have on your phone, makes me not want to bother.

I suspect most non-nerdy types care about it even less.

Yup. AI - at least what’s being offered at the consumer level right now - amounts to a series of cheap parlor tricks. Frankly, I can imagine there even being a bit of a backlash not far down the road. The latest television commercials for the iPhone in the U.S. focus on AI’s ability to summarize and write in different styles. To me, at least, the ads scream “Slackers of the world, unite!” AI seems to be designed to cover for lazy and unprepared people. That doesn’t appeal to me. It remains turned off on my devices - along with Siri.

 

[Victor Mortimer]

There really isn't much to do in terms of form factor, materials, or hardware performance at this late stage in smartphone development.

However, despite chips not advancing as fast as they used to, Apple could have reached record iPhone sales if they hadn't been as slow to announce and rollout AI as they have been:

Although the hype AI is getting is not fully warranted, and very disappointing on some level, the average consumer would want to buy a new iPhone if it came with features like an LLM Siri and a fully fledged suite of high quality generative AI features.

But Apple has just been too slow and the quality of its AI tools is not impressive.

I'm still convinced that Apple didn't add all the value to the $799 iPhone just to have it support AI in the near future, but much more to give buyers a reason to upgrade despite getting next to no AI while other brands are 2-3 years ahead of Apple.

There's LOTS to do.

Getting rid of the camera bump. Adding a headphone jack. Making the battery hot swappable. Getting rid of the notch/pill. Putting back the home button. Putting back physical SIM slots.

The problem is that Apple won't do any of it unless they're forced to. After all, it took government action to force them to finally ditch the idiotic proprietary Lightning connector that should never have existed in the first place. (And no, it should NEVER have existed. The USB C connector was introduced less than 2 years after Lightning, Apple could have used the old dock connector for the iPhone 5, and made the iPhone 6 USB C.)

 

[ab2c4]

U sure?

Yes I'm sure. Maybe you are good with the same phone 5 years in a row but a lot of Apple customers aren't.

 

[nt5672]

The reason to buy an iPhone was "it just works", but that is no longer true. For new functionality, it does not work for 6 to 12 months after the keynote, if ever. For older functionality it will never work correctly. There is no longer a reason to pay Apple inflated prices, at least until they fix more of their software bugs then they currently think necessary. Apple software no longer "plays nice" with competing products.

 

[Harry Haller]

You're confusing innovation with courage, sir.

We had innovation with Steve.
We have courage with Tim.
I wonder what’s next?

 

[Harry Haller]

At some point they'll have to start putting the prices down.
I mean, there has been no significant design change in years and perhaps most people don't care about AI features... there are so many times we can buy the same phone every year.

Significant design changes?
1. Flip phones.
2. Windowed multitasking.
3. Pen input.
4. Conversational voice assistant.
5. More memory and storage tiers.
6. Barebones starter model.

 

[mongobongo]

Buying a new phone now is about as exciting as buying new tires. I'm happy to have them, and it's nice to be riding on a new set, but it's not exciting, not interesting, and not worth upgrading because a new design or feature is available.

This is an absolutely perfect analogy!

I have a 15 Pro and money to spend. I was looking forward to upgrading for most of 2024 but when the 16 Pro finally came out I just could not bring myself to pull the trigger. It would have taken so little, just the smallest excuse, but in the end I felt like there was nothing for me in the 16 Pro so I'll wait until next year. Same with the Apple Watch, Series 9 and 10 are just too similar.

 

[eatrains]

Maybe they should make a new mini and give people something to upgrade to.

 

[justmadeupname]

I also don’t see why anyone would still pay $600+ for a phone with a 60hz screen. Coming from a 15 pro my gfs iPhone 16 always makes me think she’s got low power mode turned on.

Agreed.

I need to replace by aging iPhone SE 2016 - the battery is really bad. The 16 base model is fine for me but I don't want to pay more than £600+.

 

[9081094]

Apple is targeting profit over market share.

My opinion only but I doubt that Apple will be lowering prices soon .

They have to lower prices because the pro iPhone offers the same if not less than Android phones (better cameras, more RAM, higher screen refresh rates, and most are as fast as an iPhone pro in real world tests). Together with the faster software development on the Android side, especially in AI related things, iPhone is slowly losing its shine.

Also there isn’t much difference in look and feel with the latest Android and iOS anymore.

I don’t know what Apple has been doing all those years but it surely isn’t moving where the hockey puck will go.

 

[Krizoitz]

…and technological innovation

Such as? What major innovations are coming from Chinese phones or Android phones?

These manufacturers appear to have succeeded by offering more affordable devices, with an average selling price of $295

So cheap phones, a market Apple doesn’t even play in. How about the market for premium phones? Did that grow differently? Wouldn’t seem so.

Despite the slower growth, Apple maintained its position as the industry's profit leader through its premium pricing strategy

So there’s no actual problem for Apple then.

This article is like saying Bugatti is in trouble because Honda is selling a lot of $10,000 cars.

 

[Krizoitz]

if they hadn't been as slow to announce and rollout AI

So Apple should have rushed some half-arsed “AI” (none of it is actually AI) features like its competitors? When has that EVER been Apples strategy?

 

[karranz]

Even if Apple has incredible features to showcase, their pre-recorded keynotes completely kill the excitement. They’re uninspiring and forgettable. I haven’t been able to sit through one since they started this format. Back in Steve Jobs era every keynote was an iconic, history-making event! Apple has become a dull, overpriced brand. It’s time to part ways with Tim & Co. and return to the roots—the era when every keynote wasn’t just a presentation, but a moment that genuinely changed the world.

 

[plek]

Even if Apple has incredible features to showcase, their pre-recorded keynotes completely kill the excitement. They’re uninspiring and forgettable. I haven’t been able to sit through one since they started this format. Back in Steve Jobs era every keynote was an iconic, history-making event! Apple has become a dull, overpriced brand. It’s time to part ways with Tim & Co. and return to the roots—the era when every keynote wasn’t just a presentation, but a moment that genuinely changed the world.

I think the recent week of Mac announcements is probably the way to go. Shorter, individual presentations spread out over a week, rather than lumping everything together into one big event. I actually fell asleep during the last iPhone announcement event!

 

[Krizoitz]

better cameras, more RAM, higher screen refresh rates, and most are as fast as an iPhone pro in real world tests

1. iPhones have superior cameras. This is proven out in comparison tests carried out over and over.

For example TechRadar: https://www.techradar.com/news/best-cameraphone

Or Tom’s Hardware

Best camera phones in 2025

We've tested all the best camera phones — these are the ones that rise to the top

www.tomsguide.com

2. Android phones have more RAM because they NEED more RAM to perform. Having a higher number doesn’t mean better.

3. What are these “real world” tests. No points if it’s from a pro-Android source.

Together with the faster software development on the Android side, especially in AI related things

Quicker release of mediocre to bad software isn’t a plus. And most of the leading AI tools are cross platform (like CharGPT). What are some specific examples of superior AI driven software that’s only available on Android?

Also there isn’t much difference in look and feel with the latest Android and iOS anymore

I use both every day (Android for work only fortunately) and this is very much not true in actual use. There is still a significant gap in UI experience and performance for Android compared to iOS. Android wins in customization and that’s about it.

 

[zero.id]

Its not about the features, buttons, AI... its just about the price!
Making it cheaper by increased unit sales could bring higher revenue. It works for centuries.

 

[dba415]

1. iPhones have superior cameras. This is proven out in comparison tests carried out over and over.

For example TechRadar: https://www.techradar.com/news/best-cameraphone

Or Tom’s Hardware

Best camera phones in 2025

We've tested all the best camera phones — these are the ones that rise to the top

www.tomsguide.com

2. Android phones have more RAM because they NEED more RAM to perform. Having a higher number doesn’t mean better.

3. What are these “real world” tests. No points if it’s from a pro-Android source.



Quicker release of mediocre to bad software isn’t a plus. And most of the leading AI tools are cross platform (like CharGPT). What are some specific examples of superior AI driven software that’s only available on Android?


I use both every day (Android for work only fortunately) and this is very much not true in actual use. There is still a significant gap in UI experience and performance for Android compared to iOS. Android wins in customization and that’s about it.

for speed test I only care about Phonebuff and the galaxy is as fast as iphone

 

[iMac The Knife]

I use both every day (Android for work only fortunately) and this is very much not true in actual use. There is still a significant gap in UI experience and performance for Android compared to iOS. Android wins in customization and that’s about it.

Which Android phone are you using for work? If it is a flagship, I would love to hear where this significant gap in UI experience and performance lies. My Honor Magic V3 global is very similar out of the box to the iOS GUI (it even has its own version of dynamic island, although I've disabled it), except that I can fully customize it, and I experience no gap between its performance and the iPhone I use for work (iPhone 16PM). Being that you can't even truly multitask on an iPhone like I can using multiple apps on my V3, I would say the UI experience between the two operating systems favors Android. I used to prefer iOS over Android, but that hasn't been the case over the last three or four years.

 

[harriska2]

My 3 yr 4 mo old 12 mini is just fine. Battery life isn’t great at 84% (where it has been for the past year or so), but I like it. I’m hoping to replace the battery but I hear Apple won’t do it at 84%.

 

[iSpunk]

When new iPhones were $250-300 I would upgrade every 2 years. At $1000+ my upgrade is going to wait as long as possible. My 14 Pro is paid off and I couldn't care less about the AI garbage enough to shell out more money at this point.