Kuo: Apple Has Opportunity With iPhone XR in China as Chinese Rivals Face 'Lower Than Expected' Demand

[Shiro_Simba]

Finally, "Lowered than expected demand" for companies other than Apple.

I thought that was the norm.

It was only apple that traditionally could not meet demand, that changed with the x, due to price, in my opinion .

I’m still not convinced people are sold on smartphones that cost over $1k. XR will beat the XS , where traditionally the premium tier always sold the most units for Apple.

Love my X , though I used to update each and every year , now I can’t justify the price just to gloat I have the latest and greatest, iPhones have become some fast , they can easily last 3-4 years, unlike previously where they would become super slow with updates .

Though this is impacting all manufactures, smartphones are no longer cpu/gpu limited so demand each year should go down.... and frankly innovation across the board is .... copying each other’s features .

 

[JM]

The XR doesn’t have a glass back?

“the iPhone XR lacks some of the bells and whistles of the flagship iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max, including an OLED display and glass rear casing”

 

[PickUrPoison]

iPhone is just getting too expensive. If I want a iPhone Xs, mostly like I have to get 256GB, and it will cost over $1300 after tax. It's like price of a Macbook Pro.

Maybe the 128GB XR for $799 is a better option. Not everyone needs to buy the most expensive product available. I’m fine with my 6S but the iPhone 8 for $599 would be my upgrade choice because I like smaller phones.

 

[WannaGoMac]

The XR doesn’t have a glass back?

“the iPhone XR lacks some of the bells and whistles of the flagship iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max, including an OLED display and glass rear casing”

Thats a FEATURE. Glass backings SUCK, i dont have any use or interest in slower than plugging in charging.

 

[Shiro_Simba]

It's nice to see Apple became a trillion dollar company but profit on top of everything is getting ridiculous. I know you got to make investors happy and keep up Wall Street but how much more money these rich people need? I use to hear Steve Jobs words of making a difference on people's lives help mold for a better future. As he said as the technology matures and materials getting cheaper we see prices goes down but he also explains about why initial prices is high due to R&D and promises that eventually prices goes down for the upcoming generation. Now we only see prices are lower if you decide to buy the 2 year old device straight from Apple. I think it's time for Apple to return the favor to people that put them on the top and stop taking advantage of their customers because we still like them. Just sayin!

Jobs would fight the board about pricing , cause in his vision , the products were suppose to benefit all users , not just the elite . That is the problem with Cook, his job is to raise profits , he has no vision for Apple like jobs , slowly Apple is becoming an exclusive brand for the rich. Which is fine , but that was not Jobs vision, he genuinely wanted his products to improve everyone’s lives and tried to keep prices at that level.

 

[usersince86]

the screen alone makes the xs worth it.
Most people dont pay for their phone in full and id imagine a lot of people would rather pay what 8-12$ more a month for an xs than an xr but maybe im wrong.

Sales will be the indicator, but in my case, I don't need to spend $250 more for a better screen (and the other "non-essentials")

 

[The Game 161]

Going to sell very well in most markets I imagine

 

[WannaGoMac]

Sales will be the indicator, but in my case, I don't need to spend $250 more for a better screen (and the other "non-essentials")

Yep exactly how most folks will feel. Nerds here will care about OLED.

 

[skitidetdu]

Since an upgrade for the SE didn't come I'm holding on for Xr but if it disappoints I'll wait for next years update. But coming from a really old iPhone 5 anything will be awesome I guess...
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The XR doesn’t have a glass back?

“the iPhone XR lacks some of the bells and whistles of the flagship iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max, including an OLED display and glass rear casing”

Yes it does

 

[MacBebe]

It's nice to see Apple became a trillion dollar company but profit on top of everything is getting ridiculous. I know you got to make investors happy and keep up Wall Street but how much more money these rich people need? I use to hear Steve Jobs words of making a difference on people's lives help mold for a better future. As he said as the technology matures and materials getting cheaper we see prices goes down but he also explains about why initial prices is high due to R&D and promises that eventually prices goes down for the upcoming generation. Now we only see prices are lower if you decide to buy the 2 year old device straight from Apple. I think it's time for Apple to return the favor to people that put them on the top and stop taking advantage of their customers because we still like them. Just sayin!

As far I as I know, PROFIT is always every Company's objective. No?

 

[code-m]

If the Chinese market is disappointed with the "innovation" of current phone offerings, certainly the iPhone XR is not offering anything more then what companies like Xiaomi and Oppo have been offering for a year or more, also considering the XR will probably still be more expensive then the other Chinese flagships and is just a slightly retooled iPhone 8 with a notch.

I think its just a poor year for cellphone innovation as they are on the tock cycle where there is nothing really new to offer from all phone companies. Last year it was the notch and bezel free screens which drove up sales, this year its a second generation of this style of phone design and not much more is different across the board. Even the Xs phones are kind of lacking in appeal after the first burst of sales wear off.

Or is it peak demand been met. Essential introduced the notch, followed by Apple in late 2017 then the test adopted it in 2018. Flexible/bendable/folding phone late 2018 early 2019. I wonder if Apple if going to shrink the notch in 2019 or release something refreshing.

 

[Justanotherfanboy]

I'll stick with my 6s. I'm not spending 1000+ so i can have more emoji's

I hate to break it to you... =/
But, the new emojis- introduced (as always) by the independent body, Unicode Consortium, will be brought out in iOS 12.1.... to ALL iPhones, going back to the 5S.
Maybe you can be one of those people that refuses to upgrade, so you don’t have to have more emojis, as one teeny addition... next to group FaceTime & the camera enhancements that are coming in that update.
Further, I’m really really sorry to have to let you know that XR in its most expensive iteration is $899, so unfortunately you’ll be unable to pretend like you’d have to pay $1000+ to “have more emoji’s” (sic).

 

[MacBebe]

How do you know that?

I doubt that all buyers pay iPhones in FULL.

 

[jonnysods]

If the Chinese market is disappointed with the "innovation" of current phone offerings, certainly the iPhone XR is not offering anything more then what companies like Xiaomi and Oppo have been offering for a year or more, also considering the XR will probably still be more expensive then the other Chinese flagships and is just a slightly retooled iPhone 8 with a notch.

I think its just a poor year for cellphone innovation as they are on the tock cycle where there is nothing really new to offer from all phone companies. Last year it was the notch and bezel free screens which drove up sales, this year its a second generation of this style of phone design and not much more is different across the board. Even the Xs phones are kind of lacking in appeal after the first burst of sales wear off.

S upgrade years are always a bit meh. I'm looking more towards next year's models and what they can squeeze into the devices. I really enjoy my X. Barely watched the rest of the keynote after the Watch was announced.

 

[adamski23]

Personal anecdote - With every iPhone release I tend to look at local Craigslist's ads to see the resale value of the outgoing generation. In my area I'm seeing a lot of people wanting to "downgrade" to the 8 plus and X from the Xs. It's going to be interesting to look when the iPhone Xr becomes widely available.

 

[MacBebe]

It's time to get a FaceID iPhone for my Dad who is not comfortable using the TouchID on his 4S. The XR might be the perfect iPhone for him.

 

[Baymowe335]

I thought that was the norm.

It was only apple that traditionally could not meet demand, that changed with the x, due to price, in my opinion .

I’m still not convinced people are sold on smartphones that cost over $1k. XR will beat the XS , where traditionally the premium tier always sold the most units for Apple.

Love my X , though I used to update each and every year , now I can’t justify the price just to gloat I have the latest and greatest, iPhones have become some fast , they can easily last 3-4 years, unlike previously where they would become super slow with updates .

Though this is impacting all manufactures, smartphones are no longer cpu/gpu limited so demand each year should go down.... and frankly innovation across the board is .... copying each other’s features .

Apple always meets demand pretty quickly...it's one of their biggest strengths, availability. You don't sell 220M iPhones in a year and have a supply problem.

The "premium tier" has not always sold the most units for Apple, according to Cook. That changed with the iPhone X.

 

[44267547]

Of all the available XR colors, I suspect the Product Red XR will do really well in China, as this color symbolizes ‘Good luck’.

 

[Aston441]

I'll stick with my 6s. I'm not spending 1000+ so i can have more emoji's

I'm sticking with my 6s+. It has a better display than Xs, XsM, and XR.

Why would I want to downgrade for $1500 lol.

 

[Justanotherfanboy]

Thats a FEATURE. Glass backings SUCK, i dont have any use or interest in slower than plugging in charging.

Ok....
Well, it actually DOES come w/ a glass back. That was an article error. However, they seem to be holding up (the glass backs) really well in XS drop tests, so far!!!
Also, just to let you know- it’s certainly not as fast as 18w USB-C PD, over the wire charging, or anything... but 7.5w Qi charging is the same speed as the included 5w wired charger.

 

[imola.zhp]

If the XR had 3D touch it would be my next phone, I guess I'm keeping my 2 year old (actually replaced by Apple 6 months into ownership) 7+ for another year...

 

[Shiro_Simba]

Apple always meets demand pretty quickly...it's one of their biggest strengths, availability. You don't sell 220M iPhones in a year and have a supply problem.

The "premium tier" has not always sold the most units for Apple, according to Cook. That changed with the iPhone X.

I meant that only apple was in a position that demand outstripped supply for many many years when it came to expectations . Other manufactures wished to be in that situation.

I wonder what other iPhone out sold their premium tier equivalent. See with the x , the 8 was not a cheaper offer... it was a premium unit also. So I can see the claim he makes, but circumstances were different last year . I don’t think the 5c outsold it’s bigger brother . Though I expect the xr to beat the Xs, only cause of the price .

 

[Baymowe335]

If the XR had 3D touch it would be my next phone, I guess I'm keeping my 2 year old (actually replaced by Apple 6 months into ownership) 7+ for another year...

Haptic touch is basically the same thing.

 

[BuddyTronic]

I thought that was the norm.

It was only apple that traditionally could not meet demand, that changed with the x, due to price, in my opinion .

I’m still not convinced people are sold on smartphones that cost over $1k. XR will beat the XS , where traditionally the premium tier always sold the most units for Apple.

Love my X , though I used to update each and every year , now I can’t justify the price just to gloat I have the latest and greatest, iPhones have become some fast , they can easily last 3-4 years, unlike previously where they would become super slow with updates .

Though this is impacting all manufactures, smartphones are no longer cpu/gpu limited so demand each year should go down.... and frankly innovation across the board is .... copying each other’s features .

iPhone X was great. but the XS has faster face recognition and the camera keeps getting better. After a couple great photo's of my kid etc. my wife who initially Poo-Poo'd about me blowing big money on upgrading yet again did agree that it is worth it - just for the photo's.

We spend so much time on our iPhones, it's expensive to upgrade, but really it is in line with the cellular service plan costs. It is an addictive product.

 

[Baymowe335]

I meant that only apple was in a position that demand outstripped supply for many many years when it came to expectations . Other manufactures wished to be in that situation.

I wonder what other iPhone out sold their premium tier equivalent. See with the x , the 8 was not a cheaper offer... it was a premium unit also. So I can see the claim he makes, but circumstances were different last year . I don’t think the 5c outsold it’s bigger brother . Though I expect the xr to beat the Xs, only cause of the price .

I think he just meant the 7 outsold the 7 Plus and down the line since they introduced Plus models.