Kuo: iPhone 14 Plus Pre-Orders Worse Than iPhone 13 Mini, Product Strategy 'Fails'

[alpi123]

People are getting tired of huge phones

Neither the 6.1 or 6.7 inch sizes are ideal for the masses. The Xs Max's 6.5 size was the perfect big phone without feeling big, it should've been the maximum.

 

[gigapocket1]

Disagree that they failed. People that buy these phones don’t preorder

 

[AntonioM26]

I hope this really hurts on Apple business. The price increase in Europe is INSANE! You can’t justify a 200€ difference.
In Portugal the regular iPhone 14 costs 1039€ and the 14 Pro Max starts at 1499€!! It’s ridiculous.
People can’t afford this! Even who has always been an Apple fan is not able to buy it now. It’s just too much. The solution? To buy iPhone 13 or iPhone 12 with really good discount pricing on selected stores.

 

[bassexpander]

Right now the South Korean won is 1380 to 1 USD. Worst in 13 years. If this stabilizes back down to around 1150 or even 1200, the IPhones will have to drop in price, or people just won't bother. They didn't lower the prices AT ALL on the 13, and raised prices on the 14 Pros. People are looking at buying the Samsung Fold for about the same price, with subsidies.

 

[jonnysods]

Maybe because the 14 is kind of like the 13S, its not much different.

 

[Bananadetergent]

Huh… never knew Ming had a medium account

 

[K00l-_-st0ry]

I hope this really hurts on Apple business. The price increase in Europe is INSANE! You can’t justify a 200€ difference.
In Portugal the regular iPhone 14 costs 1039€ and the 14 Pro Max starts at 1499€!! It’s ridiculous.
People can’t afford this! Even who has always been an Apple fan is not able to buy it now. It’s just too much. The solution? To buy iPhone 13 or iPhone 12 with really good discount pricing on selected stores.

You can justify it because the Euro is weaker and the USD is stronger. Causes prices to rise

 

[AppleUK1]

Wouldn't Apple be happy that people are spending more for the Pro's than the regular just plus sized model

 

[bassexpander]

I hope this really hurts on Apple business. The price increase in Europe is INSANE! You can’t justify a 200€ difference.
In Portugal the regular iPhone 14 costs 1039€ and the 14 Pro Max starts at 1499€!! It’s ridiculous.
People can’t afford this! Even who has always been an Apple fan is not able to buy it now. It’s just too much. The solution? To buy iPhone 13 or iPhone 12 with really good discount pricing on selected stores.

Nice thing is I can always sell this off and go back to Android. You can get a heck of a nice Android phone on the used market for a paltry $200. These are becoming appliances.

 

[bluecoast]

I’m intrigued as to when / if we’ll see the rumoured ‘rent an iPhone’ financial package Apple is working on.

The high prices of the 14 iPhones are surely meant now to be disguised in a monthly payment.

In a way, it’s going to feel ‘old school’ for us all to think of buying iPhones outright.

In a world where now nearly all of us rent our music and tv, many of us will soon be happy enough renting our hardware too (especially if Apple sweetens the deal with other Apple services bundled in). Or at least, this is what Apple will be hoping.

 

[EugW]

Honestly not surprised by this. By a a 13 Pro Max instead.

13 Pro Max has been discontinued. If you want to buy one outright, you'll have to act quickly before the clearance stock is exhausted.

Wouldn't Apple be happy that people are spending more for the Pro's than the regular just plus sized model

No. The Pros have only OK sales, and in previous years, the non-Pro model has been the number 1 seller.

However, I don't think it's a good gauge right now. The demographics of the sales at launch is different from the rest of the year. People who buy on launch day skew toward the higher end.

Then we can expect Apple to drop prices in 6 months when these currencies stabilize, right? So why buy now?

Don't count on it.*

*Either the currency stabilization in 6 months or the correction in Apple iPhone pricing. It might happen, but it would be foolish to bank on it.

 

[babyexercise]

I made the post before this news lol

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/14-plus-sales-will-be-worse-than-mini.2358359/?post=31448765#post-31448765

 

[matt_and_187_like_this]

The Plus starts at EUR 1.150. That is a lot for a second tier option.

 

[choppsv1]

I bought a 13 mini, love the form factor, do not need to upgrade ever 1-2 years for a few more megapixels. I won't be buying anymore 6" phones, I hated the 2 I had between the <5" form factors. Hopefully Apple makes another mini in a 2-3 years when it's sane for me to buy another $1000 phone.

 

[antiprotest]

I think it is hard to compare to the 13 because this year they have the 14 Pro series with the dynamic notch, which is markedly different to the 13 Pro series. So the low orders on the regular 14s might be explained by some of the people preferring the 14 Pros instead, even if they cost more.

 

[bassexpander]

I see a lot of people complaining about the price. But it looks like people are forgetting exchange rates and now the USD is stronger and is causing prices to go up for countries outside of US. The Euro has fallen dramatically and will cause prices to rise. It’s not just Apple doing it for the heck of it. Why would you raise prices for no reason knowing it could hinder buyers from purchasing?

Then we can expect Apple to drop prices in 6 months when these currencies stabilize, right? So why buy now?

 

[DMG35]

13 Pro Max has been discontinued. If you want to buy one outright, you'll have to act quickly before the clearance stock is exhausted.

There are plenty of places to buy one online at a discount.

 

[2540497]

Ramping up prices a ridiculous amount across Europe, so they can freeze prices at home in the USA, is going to bite Apple hard.

 

[tfresquezdxs]

That’s what happens when they remove the SIM card tray 😅 , but for real I do think that contributes a small amount to the US sales

 

[Apple_Robert]

Inflation is a real concern to many people, as is job security, and people are probably holding onto their phones longer, not to mention not everyone keeps up the play by play ongoings of Apple like the members of MR. It is too early for any cause for concern.

 

[James Godfrey]

This will be happening for quite a few reasons:

1. The iPhone 14 and 14 Plus are basically the same as the 13 line up, there is likely good deals now on those devices so people will likely opt for them over 14’s as they will get a similar all round device for the same money if not cheaper.

2. Pre-orders are normally flooded with tech enthusiasts not your general consumers, meaning the Pro line up is what is likely to sell quicker during pre-orders.

3. The main new device in the standard 14 line up is the 14 Plus which won’t actually ship until 7th October… which is quite a bit away yet.

4. The current economic climate is discouraging people making large purchases or taking out new carrier contracts,

5. In some respects this is what Apple want, as the pro line up likely has a much higher mark up than the standard 14 line up, that’s why there is a severe lack of innovation with the standard 14’s, it’s a perfect business model for upselling, Apple want you to go with their Pro line up over the standard line up.

I think in the long term overall though the iPhone 14 Plus will end up being the best seller, the Pro Max second, Pro third and the standard 14 being the worst seller of them all.

 

[Random_Matt]

Apple should only have three phones with the same specs/feature:

Mini
Standard
Plus

Finished.

 

[ian87w]

Wait, what kind of kindergarten analysis is this? Historical track record indicates that the non Pro iPhones have always been best sellers. Where did he get his numbers from? The fact that they are going to have it in stock on release day doesn’t mean it’s lackluster demand. It can also mean that inventory is sufficient and Apple knows there will be good demand for it, thus ample amount of inventory.

If Apple only made 1 phone and it’s out of stock, that doesn’t mean it’s best seller 🙄

Besides, the 14 Plus won’t even be shipping until October.

 

[RedWeasel]

The fact that a lot of the target demographic is facing quite high inflation and some places might even be on the brink of a recession probably doesn’t help.

The way the UK is going, £699 will soon be needed to buy a loaf of bread. Apple has to respond to currency weaknesses in international markets.

They do respond. That’s why it’s getting more expensive in EUR and GBP.

 

[bassexpander]

Ramping up prices a ridiculous amount across Europe, so they can freeze prices at home in the USA, is going to bite Apple hard.

When currencies stabilize in 6 months, as they are expected to, Apple won't have the "currency difference" excuse. So it would be smart to wait and buy then. Prices should drop.