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Though you do have to pay attention to the metric they are using.

If sales weren't that great, but profits (revenue minus costs) are great, then it just means they managed to charge a massive premium.

footnote: I have X and it is the best phone I have ever had, so I don't mind that I had to give Apple a lot of margin on it.
Gross margin on the X and 8 are similar iirc, but the higher selling price on the X allows Apple to rake in a lot more dollars of profit per device.

But it would be mathematically difficult for the X to have grabbed 35% of all profit dollars without selling very well; my guess is they’re selling roughly equal quantities of 8/8 Plus/X, and the selling price accounts for the difference you see in the graph.
 
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Too much profit = greedy. iPhone X could have been $749.

I'm not usually so anti-capitalist, but I agree with you. It is greedy. It is permissible, and they are free to do it, but it is greedy.

I'm more surprised so many people are willing shell out $1000-$1150 for an iPhone and $200 more for AppleCare+ for it. That's $1200-$1350 all-in. For a first-gen device that almost everyone knows will be replaced by an improved model pretty darn soon. I really thought having it be so much over one grand to go all-in would put a lot of people off. I guess I was wrong. Where is the line then? Is $1500 too much for an iPhone? $2000? $5000?
 
iPhone X is my least favorite iPhone I’ve ever owned. Touch ID trumps Face ID all day long. Still so bummed they are (rumored to be) ditching it on everything.

Not surprised by these numbers, it’s the price of a MacBook, of course they are making money hand over fist. I’m considering downgrading to whatever follows iPhone 8 this fall (praying it includes Touch ID still).
 
Just got a 6S for my wife. She wanted a bigger phone than her 5C but one that still has the home button and a headphone jack. So 7 and 8 were out. I wanted her to buy the SE but screen size won. I still have my 4S. Debating whether to grab a SE before home button and headphone jack are eliminated in all models.

Kudos to Apple for giving us choices!!! They didn't have to still have the 6 in the Apple Store we went to yesterday, but there they were. Thank you!!!!
 
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I'm sure with economies of scale, that the X starting at $999 in the cheapest market, is a serious profit margin machine
 
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Just think what might have happened if Apple had put 3 GB of DRAM into the smaller iPhone for the first time ! ... i.e., the iPhone 8.

If that had happened, many who recently purchased the 6, 6s OR 7 may have splurged and purchased the 8 !

Still waiting on analysis of the RED iPhone 8 ... if Tim Cook was smart, he put 3 GB into that one !

Apple's success is primarily due to a lack of U.S. competition !

But, the company can also easily be taken down ... Google & GoPro were the best candidates to do, but neither figured-out the best course of action.

Too much sheep mentality in the mobile industry, especially those with War Chests to make things happen on a grand scale !
 
You're not wrong. I have a post just a few below that one where I had said that you have to have sold them to make that profit. Phones on a shelf or in a warehouse don't generate much for any company.
You're making a common mistake that's made on this forum. Apple making a lot of profit per phone is not evidence of Apple selling a lot of phones. Apple can, and has, sold fewer phones in a YoY comparison while making more profit. Apple making more profit that all others is also not evidence of other's phones on a shelf or in a warehouse. You're making unsupported leaps in logic.
Not you. The "analysts" that we read about so often here.
Analysts who say Apple made the most profit and analysts who say the iPhone X didn't sell as well as expected can both be right. And be right simultaneously. They are referencing different aspects of iPhone X sales. What you're doing is conflating sales numbers and sales profit and coming up with a flawed narrative.
 
I'm not usually so anti-capitalist, but I agree with you. It is greedy. It is permissible, and they are free to do it, but it is greedy.

I'm more surprised so many people are willing shell out $1000-$1150 for an iPhone and $200 more for AppleCare+ for it. That's $1200-$1350 all-in. For a first-gen device that almost everyone knows will be replaced by an improved model pretty darn soon. I really thought having it be so much over one grand to go all-in would put a lot of people off. I guess I was wrong. Where is the line then? Is $1500 too much for an iPhone? $2000? $5000?

Who buys Applecare? I know I don't.

"Where is the line then?" I don't know but what I do know is that Apple will push it.
 
Nice, proof of how massively overpriced the X is. Lucky I returned mine.
Hopefully you bought a Samsung, they could use a few bucks.

I think it’s good for Apple to have some competition, but if people aren’t willing to pay much above cost for their flagship, Samsung might just abandon the high end at some point.
 
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No, the X is reasonably priced. That does not mean, however, that everyone can afford one.

This is the truth. Apple even released the 8 and 8 Plus with nearly all of the same internals because they knew that $1000+ is too steep for a lot of people. Price is relative. For some people, $1k is a MacBook Air that is more useful than a phone or new mid-range TV. For others $1k for a beautiful new phone is nothing. Apple is targeting the latter with the X.

I remember when the iPhone first launched. $600 with a contract was not exactly affordable. iPhones started to really take off once they were $199-299 with contract with the 3G and started becoming ubiquitous with the 4 and 4s which were available for a pretty long time.
 
You're making a common mistake that's made on this forum. Apple making a lot of profit per phone is not evidence of Apple selling a lot of phones. Apple can, and has, sold fewer phones in a YoY comparison while making more profit. Apple making more profit that all others is also not evidence of other's phones on a shelf or in a warehouse. You're making unsupported leaps in logic.

Analysts who say Apple made the most profit and analysts who say the iPhone X didn't sell as well as expected can both be right. And be right simultaneously. They are referencing different aspects of iPhone X sales. What you're doing is conflating sales numbers and sales profit and coming up with a flawed narrative.
The inevitable math consequence then is that the margin must be stellar
 
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Who buys Applecare? I know I don't.

"Where is the line then?" I don't know but what I do know is that Apple will push it.

I think AC+ is worth it, so I tend to buy it. Though I very rarely buy new phones. Even when buying used on Swappa, I will only buy a phone that still has at least 6 months of AC+ left with at least one AC+ replacement left.
 
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I don't think it's wise for Apple to fragment their offerings like the 8/8+/X. In the past, the lineup would have a 'cheap' option, but that option was $500 or $400. Now, the cheap option is $700 (more than the flagship in the past).

I don't think it's wise for Apple to put the true new iPhone (X is clearly the true new iPhone) at a cost that is prohibitive for most everyday Americans. In the long term, I think it will hurt their bottom line and their ability to keep people in the ecosystem. People don't like to feel like their new device is substandard, but they also want things to cost a reasonable amount of money. If I have to pay $1500 every other year to buy into the latest iPhone, I'll probably just stop. And I'm well above the average American income.

EDIT: Apple had a great thing going. They could virtually guarantee $650 or $750 from iPhone users every other year. Now, they are making people actually think about whether or not to upgrade. That's a bad position to put your customers in.
 
No, the X is reasonably priced. That does not mean, however, that everyone can afford one.


"One hell of a markup."

GPM is likely in the high 30% range, and certainly not unusual.

With a comment like that you must be a AAPL shareholder... because you have defended Apples obviously massive markup, you don’t think it should be cheaper...
 
I almost bricked my iPhone 6 from a software update (but restored it the day after). So I was really looking into buying a new phone. I have lots of money, money is no concern. I would have went with the iPhone 8.

iPhone 8: Perfect balance of size and performance. Cost is high, but it's affordable.

iPhone Plus: I've always felt that these phones are too big. I want to be able to one hand my phone at all times and circumstances. Same internals as the iPhone 8. Just too big and doesn't feel right. I'm 6'5, by the way.

iPhone X: Perfect size; smaller than the iPhone plus models. But holy ****, $999 for the base model?

I would have went with the (Product) Red iPhone 8.

But I'm happy that my iPhone 6 is still trucking a long with its new battery!
 
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