Kuo: iPhone XR Pre-Order Demand Over First Weekend Exceeded That of iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus

[ksec]

I earn a wage I consider to be rather robust to be able to support buying an Iphone now and then (engineer for 25 years), but anything over $500 for a phone that's likely to require replacement every ~3 years does not seem like "low cost" to me!

Good God, is $750 before Apple Care really considered "low cost" to the admittedly Apple-fanatics (of which I still consider myself one) around these parts?

I’m not calling $750 to be too much or non-justifiable. I can hardly see it be called “low cost” or “reasonably priced.”

What, did the (no longer available) $379 iPhone SE and (currently available) refurbished iPhone 7 for $379 seem like giveaways??

For a Group of people, sales, business oriented, they get a monthly fees allowance for their mobile phone usage, which actually cover the price plan and mobile phone cost.

That is precisely why people are buying Xs / Max, the monthly payment is only ~$45. And if you can resell your phone in 24 months time for 50% of the cost, you are talking about ~$22 per month only.

Basically not only are Network Carrier, but many business are subsidising the cost of iPhone as part of "benefits".

Now for those of US who have to buy the phone Sim-Free.... the one time cost is quite hard to justify.

 

[robotphood]

Xr. The Apple phone for those who like colors but not specs. Not even Full HD screen res so worse then iPhone 6. Four year old tech beats a 2018 release? Hmmm

They’ll sell heaps. Just hope their eyesight isn’t too good.

How is it worse than the iPhone 6? Also it’d be the opposite, people with worse eyesight would be bringing their phones closer, which is where you may see differences. Doesn’t look like anyone that has actually seen the device in person has complained about the screen quality at all.

 

[PickUrPoison]

Xr. The Apple phone for those who like colors but not specs. Not even Full HD screen res so worse then iPhone 6. Four year old tech beats a 2018 release? Hmmm

They’ll sell heaps. Just hope their eyesight isn’t too good.

You messed up your talking point. iPhone 6/7/8 were also not full HD. In fact, they had lower resolution (1334x750) than the XR at 1792x828.

The iPhone XR starts at $749. If you want Apple’s highest resolution models, they start at $999.

 

[Shanghaichica]

That's not answering my question. That's as useful as saying someone who wishes to spend $100k on a diamond-encrusted phone handed to them by Eddie Van Halen has every right to do so.

If you read the responses I quoted, they call it a "low cost option."

I'm curious how many consider $750 to be "low cost" or "reasonably priced," regardless of the XS or XS-max's price.

Reasonably priced is what I would call it. Or the ‘cheaper’ iPhone in comparison to the x or Xs Max. It’s certainly not cheap though. I think the low should be replaced with lower.

Of course I wouldn’t buy one as I can’t get passed the 720p display.

 

[44267547]

That's the point, it isn't cheaper nor premium with low res screen..no 3D touch, no dual camera ... Hope people see value in it after it arrived in the store and see it first hand.

Your post doesn’t make any sense. The XR is $250 cheaper than the iPhone XS, and it’s not meant to compete with the XS, which if it would include an OLED display, 3D Touch and a dual camera, it _would_ be significantly more expensive. That’s why Apple didn’t include those features. As for the average consumer, do they really care about those considerations? I doubt it. They simply see the form factor, Face ID and six new colors with a cheaper price tag. That’s what they’re attracted to.

 

[Shanghaichica]

Your post doesn’t make any sense. The XR is $250 cheaper than the iPhone XS, and it’s not meant to compete with the XS, which if it would include an OLED display, 3D Touch and a dual camera, it _would_ be significantly more expensive. That’s why Apple didn’t include those features. As for the average consumer, do they really care about those considerations? I doubt it. They simply see the form factor, Face ID and six new colors with a cheaper price tag. That’s what they’re attracted to.

Wouldn’t buy one myself but I don’t think the average consumer knows what 3D Touch is or an OLED display. They also won’t care about it not having a dual lens camera if they can still so portrait pictures.

I Think a lot of people could tell the difference between 1080p and 720p but in the shop the phone will be on display mode and with the store lights on it will look very nice and whilst they can tell the difference I don’t think it will be enough to stop them getting the phone or spending £250 more for the Xs.

 

[44267547]

Wouldn’t buy one myself but I don’t think the average consumer knows what 3D Touch is or an OLED display. They also won’t care about it not having a dual lens camera if they can still so portrait pictures.

I Think a lot of people could tell the difference between 1080p and 720p but in the shop the phone will be on display mode and with the store lights on it will look very nice.

Exactly my point. Those features that the XR is missing with 3D Touch, higher resolution display and dual camera is not important to the un-informed consumer. What is important is that they see Face ID, new form factor similar to the XS, six new colors and the cheap(er) price tag. Those are the things that they understand and will be attracted to. Most have no idea what 3D Touch executes and the 828P LCD on the XR is similar to the iPhone 8, which is still a solid display.

 

[PeteS1963]

It was sold out in China and HK within 24 hours. It's only now that the UK and other smaller markets are seeing this longer lead time.

True, but China is a much much bigger market and is growing all the time.

 

[recoil80]

Not surprising considering the 8 and 8+ were a marginal update, and the Xr is a radical redesign of the low-end iPhone.

Ditto.
I bet many people skipped the 8 and 8+ upgrade last year considering the new phones "boring", while the new design was too expensive.
This time they can have a new design at the usual price point, Face ID is faster this year so you don't miss TouchID and more apps are taking advantage of the new display.

 

[Ramchi]

Exactly my point. Those features that the XR is missing with 3D Touch, higher resolution display and dual camera is not important to the un-informed consumer. What is important is that they see Face ID, new form factor similar to the XS, six new colors and the cheap(er) price tag. Those are the things that they understand and will be attracted to. Most have no idea what 3D Touch executes and the 828P LCD on the XR is similar to the iPhone 8, which is still a solid display.

Uninformed customer spending $750 - $1000 on a mobile! I am not sure!

If they go to Apple Store, don't they see XS and XS Max (with price points not so different - when they eye for XR 128 GB)

Yes,I agree that uninformed customers may get swayed with colour options of XR but features they would definitely check it out.

Only people ordering through Web or e-commerce websites (and yet uninformed), especially the pre-ordering customers would overlook many of these missing things.

 

[tromboneaholic]

Uninformed customer spending $750 - $1000 on a mobile! I am not sure!

If they go to Apple Store, don't they see XS and XS Max (with price points not so different - when they eye for XR 128 GB)

Yes,I agree that uninformed customers may get swayed with colour options of XR but features they would definitely check it out.

Only people ordering through Web or e-commerce websites (and yet uninformed), especially the pre-ordering customers would overlook many of these missing things.

I personally prefer to keep my X from last year over buying an XR, but I'm sure most non-technical people are going to choose the XR. Apple has never really done much with 3D touch, and I think the average person doesn't even use it. I also think people upgrading from a 6s though 8 are going to see the brighter edge-to-edge screen on the XR and think it looks great.

 

[robotphood]

I personally prefer to keep my X from last year over buying an XR, but I'm sure most non-technical people are going to choose the XR. Apple has never really done much with 3D touch, and I think the average person doesn't even use it. I also think people upgrading from a 6s though 8 are going to see the brighter edge-to-edge screen on the XR and think it looks great.

This. I’m not sure why there’s such a debate between the X/Xs and the Xr. It’s clear the Xr is a replacement for the Plus line. And I know the Plus has a 1080p screen, but I personally never really notice any difference with normal viewing distances when I first upgraded to a Plus. I’d imagine it’s even less likely people will have their noses up against it with a significantly larger display.

 

[Tozovac]

The reason I asked, was because you were not clear in your first post when you said you were ‘forced’, naturally one wants to know how somebody is forced to upgrade a phone, especially being the consumer makes the choice on what they’re upgrading to, not the manufacturer.

It wasn’t a surprise there was no SE 2, and I don’t think Apple ever intended it to be that way. I think the original SE that was introduced in March 2016 was to be a limited edition model, which speaks volumes that was only offered for just over two years.

For the record, whatever you decide to upgrade to, is your own prerogative, the iPhone 7 was never ‘disappointing’. That was the first iPhone that actually offered stereo speakers, water resistance and a dual camera (Yes, those are considerable features over the 6s). It was a very successful iPhone in it’s own right, not sure how you can classify this as disappointing.

Yeah, I wasn't clear, I agree. But I was prefacing my post to acknowledge nobody is really forced to buy anything...except maybe health and car insurance.

I consider the 7 very disappointing from my personal experience - at $379, a refurbished-by-Apple (aka, brand new, IMHO) iPhone 7 was a pretty darn good deal. But I thought the battery life on my Apple refurb'd 7 was horrendous and awfully disappointing. Only after buying the 7 did I search online for some scathing battery life reviews of the 7 vs. 8 or X. I could see the % decline as I watched the screen, even when turning off all the luxuries I mention in another response below....amazing how self-defeating it felt to turn off convenience features in a high $$ phone just to get battery life close to the advertised "up to" values....It's very hard to not expect those #'s as a customer while using at least most of the convenience features...

My disappointment in the 7 was cemented by two factors:

1) the battery life on my 8 is pretty amazing, by comparison.
2) the wireless charging offered by the 8 makes the headphone jack omission much more tolerable than it was for the 7, as very key for me is to be able to use wired headphones while charging simultaneously, without having to buy that ridiculous dual-charge/headphone lightning dongle....

I had a 7 Plus and that phone gave me unbelievable battery life. Did you have background app refresh on?? What about screen brightness. There are many different factors into why or why not the battery can last or not. My XS Max is really good. Even better than the 7 Plus I previously owned. I’m one that always keeps the screen as dim as possible. But that’s just me.

Makes sense for your 7+. Completely different battery for the 7. Oh, I know about the factors, ha ha. My screen brightness was below 45% always, my background app refresh was wifi-only, I always closed apps I wasn't using even with completely contradictory advice online & from Apple store geniuses regarding closing or not-closing background apps, I had mail on manual fetch only. I.e., I turned off all the bells and whistles that make a phone exhilarating to use but which would likely have given me a 3 hour battery life.

I took it back for an 8 and noticed an incredible uptick in battery life/% throughout the day.

Exactly my point. Those features that the XR is missing with 3D Touch, higher resolution display and dual camera is not important to the un-informed consumer. What is important is that they see Face ID, new form factor similar to the XS, six new colors and the cheap(er) price tag. Those are the things that they understand and will be attracted to. Most have no idea what 3D Touch executes and the 828P LCD on the XR is similar to the iPhone 8, which is still a solid display.

Though I agree with most of your post, isn't it also possible that 3D Touch, higher resolution display and dual camera may not be important even to informed consumers?? Higher resolution on an already high resolution screen? Some might see no value in paying up for gains hardly discernible to the human eye beyond those of the 1st gen retina screen... Heck, I can't even tell the difference between 720 & 1080 on a 50" plasma, let alone feel gains in resolution increase on a 5" phone. As for "even better pictures," couldn't there be a point of diminishing returns there too? A $400 phone with, say, iPhone 8-levels of battery life & processing performance (to keep up with newer iOS's) could be well-loved over anything with 3D touch, Face ID, etc. etc.

But...without said ~$400 smaller-screen "base" iPhone, there's no chance for the consumer to consider it.

Ditto.
I bet many people skipped the 8 and 8+ upgrade last year considering the new phones "boring", while the new design was too expensive.
This time they can have a new design at the usual price point, Face ID is faster this year so you don't miss TouchID and more apps are taking advantage of the new display.

This forum helps me realize how out of touch I am with how others shop for phones. Do you assume some think the 8 is "boring" due to minimal improvements/differences from the 7? I think that at minimum, the addition of wireless charging reduces vastly the attractiveness of the 7, given the heave-ho of the headphone jack and its resulting inconvenience for me and many.

Apple has never really done much with 3D touch, and I think the average person doesn't even use it. I also think people upgrading from a 6s though 8 are going to see the brighter edge-to-edge screen on the XR and think it looks great.

I completely agree with you about 3D touch vs. consumer awareness. In fact I think Apple needs to completely rethink a few things as iPhones get increasingly jam-packed with esoteric features that are hardly obvious. Couple that with their "no instruction booklet needed mindset" and vastly-reduced-intuitiveness of UI since iOS 6 since Jony & others felt "nobody needs certain helpful UIx cues anymore," and it's a perfect recipe for (I think) the majority of users to have little to no idea why to choose a 7 over an 8 over an Xr over an Xs, let alone know how to use their phones to the fullest once they choose one. Or even know they should jump on youtube to learn how to use their phone's "hidden" features.

Apple's thinking that even soccer moms need Porsche Cayenne's... It's gotta come to be that Apple introduces a sub-$500 "low cost" option, as the trend towards upping the content and upping the $$$ still doesn't seem long-term sustainable to me.

 

[lec0rsaire]

AAPL calls it the "XR" because of the Porsche 911 R.

APPL calls the other newer models the "XS" because of the Porsche 911 Carrera S.

Got a hint about it on another website (i.e., that there's an association to sports cars), which enabled me to put the pieces of the puzzle together rather easily.

The great mystery has now been solved !

How about because R comes right before S? Duh.
[doublepost=1540328652][/doublepost]

This. I’m not sure why there’s such a debate between the X/Xs and the Xr. It’s clear the Xr is a replacement for the Plus line. And I know the Plus has a 1080p screen, but I personally never really notice any difference with normal viewing distances when I first upgraded to a Plus. I’d imagine it’s even less likely people will have their noses up against it with a significantly larger display.

No. It’s clear the Max is the replacement for the Plus line. The Max has very similar width to the Plus phones albeit with a wider AR. The XR is somewhere in between the width of a non Plus/X and Plus/XS Max.

No “telephoto” Lena means not a Plus replacement. The XR has no “optical zoom” and for me that is a major deal breaker. Sure it can take depth of field with one lens like the Pixel but it cannot zoom without cropping.
[doublepost=1540328968][/doublepost]I think the XR is the perfect iPhone for folks who do not need the premium features, namely OLED display w/ higher res, 2x “optical zoom,” 3D Touch and higher quality SS instead of aluminum.

IMO I think the lack of optical zoom is a bigger deal than the LCD display. Apple’s LCDs still look pretty damn good and you will really only notice the beauty of OLED when looking at light text over a black background and perhaps looking at low light photos.