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Love affair with smartphones cooling

Tim Cook missed earning some bonuses in 2016 due to iPhone 6S missing internal sales targets.

Given the lukewarm reception to the iPhone 7 the first half of this year and the constant news about the OLED iPhone, I would be surprised if Tim Cook was getting his bonus this year.
 
Lankyman said:
The link provided demonstrates the current state of the UK smartphone market overall and the general antipathy shown by UK consumers to iPhone 7. The company in question is the UK's largest phone retailer.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-41036781
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The Media and News business do this on purpose don't think they are above putting something like this out so the stock drops 1% So Brokers can buy in on that 1%. Because once the IPhone 8 OLED 10 Anniversary Edition drops and Apple PR and Marketing get going. You literally will not be able to buy an iPhone 8 in a store until Mid 2018 anywhere.

People are tired of the Same old 4 Year old Design no one wants that there's no Swag or flaunt factor there. But if and only if as I hope Apple names the iPhone 8. IPhone Pro. All bets are off.
 
Nice article, agree that the "cool" factor has gone down. 3/4 people has a premium phone, compared to 4-5 years ago when less than 1/2 had premium phones.

The 7 didn't have any wow factor. Hope the 8 can bring some youngsters back, but again, that thing is going to be so expensive.
 
LoveToMacRumors said:
Nice article, agree that the "cool" factor has gone down. 3/4 people has a premium phone, compared to 4-5 years ago when less than 1/2 had premium phones.

The 7 didn't have any wow factor. Hope the 8 can bring some youngsters back, but again, that thing is going to be so expensive.
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Everyone who wants a cool premium phone has a cool premium phone, recall all the conservative righties complaining about people on food stamp having iPhones.

When Jobs made the deal with ATT to subsidize then, finance them, so you get one for 0-199 down out the door. Anyone can get, if they want. To think otherwise, that they are ‘special’ or a status symbol... Is ginormous bunk.
 
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Smartphones just don't bring much new to the table anymore. Design is coalescing, operating systems are functionally equivalent, hardware specs are basically undifferentiated, etc. New models are generally just repackaged systems with faster processors and more storage and ram. There's not much reason to upgrade now until your phone becomes so slow as to be bothersome or you need more storage.
 
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off_piste said:
Smartphones just don't bring much new to the table anymore. Design is coalescing, operating systems are functionally equivalent, hardware specs are basically undifferentiated, etc. New models are generally just repackaged systems with faster processors and more storage and ram. There's not much reason to upgrade now until your phone becomes so slow as to be bothersome or you need more storage.
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Yep. Or you break it or battery life has gone bad or you need an app that requires the latest firmware and your device isn't supported anymore.

Imho, the iPhone 5/5s marked the start of smartphone longevity and devices being good enough (performance-wise). It took computers decades to get to that point. Smartphones and tablets got there much faster. We've got unlocked 5c and 5s that are used for international travel and they still work very well on iOS 10. Obviously can't update the 5c anymore but reckon the 5s can tolerate one more iOS update.
 
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off_piste said:
Smartphones just don't bring much new to the table anymore. Design is coalescing, operating systems are functionally equivalent, hardware specs are basically undifferentiated, etc. New models are generally just repackaged systems with faster processors and more storage and ram. There's not much reason to upgrade now until your phone becomes so slow as to be bothersome or you need more storage.
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In addition to the article the BBC ran a feature on the news about it saying pretty much the same. The presenter had a clutch of premium phones in his hand and commented that they all looked very much alike and had pretty much the same features.

Price with UK consumers was also a big factor as they are now just to expensive. A further black mark against iPhone in particular is the loss of the headphone jack.
 
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I think smart phones are so powerful and they are capable of so many different things, but it's hard to impress some of us based on certain capabilities and features because all of those features are not always used by everybody. Smart phones continue to improve and introduce new technology for security and convenience, but some have no interest in any of that.
 
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No surprise really as people are keeping their phones longer now especially with networks doing 2yr contracts as the norm now. Also the companies making phones are sort of running out of ideas for new ideas....initially with smartphones each one had a raft of new features whereas they are all slowing down with nothing really ground breaking so folk dont race to get the newest and latest phone all the time. Also as far as iPhones go you get regular iOS updates including a big one each autumn that gives new software features. My current iPhone 6S will comfortably handle iOS11 and probably a few more after that.

I've had three iPhones now - a 3GS i ran for 3 years, an iPhone 5 i had for 3 and a half years and now an iPhone 6S thats coming up for 2 years and still works perfectly.
 
ctrlzone said:
people will easily pay 1000 or even more for a phone today, no problem
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I disagree: a higher price in dollars means skyrocketing prices in other parts of the world.

For example, an iPad Pro that costs $1029 (12.9", 256 GB, cellular) will cost you €1169 in Europe... that's $1380. And currently, there's only one rumour that suggests a $999 price tag... most analysts believe it will have a starting price between $1100-$1300.
 
ctrlzone said:
people will easily pay 1000 or even more for a phone today, no problem
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Well given the cheapest iMac in the UK is £1049, then to pay a £1000 for a phone demonstrates to me at least that a fool and his money are soon parted.

It's a glaring example of just how overpriced phones are becoming. Looked after, an iMac would probable give you 10 years service. I doubt a phone would provide that sort of return on investment.
 
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There's only so much phones can do at this point. And they all are so similar it seems. Thinking about this I really could have kept my iPhone 6 and would've been fine with my usage. But of course Apple somehow got me to upgrade to a 6s and then to a 7...
 
Lankyman said:
Well given the cheapest iMac in the UK is £1049, then to pay a £1000 for a phone demonstrates to me at least that a fool and his money are soon parted.

It's a glaring example of just how overpriced phones are becoming. Looked after, an iMac would probable give you 10 years service. I doubt a phone would provide that sort of return on investment.
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well, my iPhone 4 is slowly getting to 10 years use ;)
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ThatsMeRight said:
I disagree: a higher price in dollars means skyrocketing prices in other parts of the world.

For example, an iPad Pro that costs $1029 (12.9", 256 GB, cellular) will cost you €1169 in Europe... that's $1380. And currently, there's only one rumour that suggests a $999 price tag... most analysts believe it will have a starting price between $1100-$1300.
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The mentioned iPad costs exactly 1169 € in my country, people will pay even 2000 today, no problem.
its the most important thing in the world to have, more than Food.
 
Purchase wise maybe. At work smartphone usage continues to rise. I know I'm using my phone more and more instead of my computer at home. Bluetooth keyboard and a tablet stand? My iPhone is becoming what I spend most of my "computer" time on. That said, I bought my 6s+ May 2016 and I have no plan on upgrading anytime soon. This thing was over $1000 - with subsidies gone - and knowing if I keep this till May 2018 I can sell it vs upgrading early with the Apple Upgrade plan?

I think companies expected people to continue to get phones every few years after subsidies ended. My coworkers keep their phones for 3+ years (50+). College mates keep their phones forever - tons still have iPhone 5 and Samsung S4 with no intention of upgrading.

That said, my usage of my phone continues to grow and is the highest it has ever been. I read books, do email, communicate, journal, work logs, music, YouTube, etc... on it.
 
The prices are getting ridiculous. I don't mind spending £1700 on a MacBook, £1K on the watch because they're all pieces that will be used for more than 2 years. But £1K for a phone that most people upgrade from 2 years later is just too much.

And then there's the reliability. I've looked after all my iPhone's, never smashed a screen, never really dropped them and yet the same thing happens every time, they slow down; lag at the simplest of tasks; the battery becomes awful. In comparison, my MacBook still runs as good as it did 5 years ago.
 
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Lankyman said:
Well given the cheapest iMac in the UK is £1049, then to pay a £1000 for a phone demonstrates to me at least that a fool and his money are soon parted.

It's a glaring example of just how overpriced phones are becoming. Looked after, an iMac would probable give you 10 years service. I doubt a phone would provide that sort of return on investment.
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After a couple of cheap hardware upgrades, my £1100 MacBook Pro is running brilliantly after 8 years and still doing everything I need. Just imagine trying to get through the day with an eight year old iPhone now (i.e., a 3G or 3GS) - it doesn't bear thinking about, and of course there's no hardware upgrade possible there other than a whole new phone.

There's no question in my mind that a £1000+ "iPhone 8" will represent extraordinarily poor value. Even the resale value will be murdered next year when most of its standout hardware features become the default norm for the rest of the range (as they already are for most of apple's competitors).

Either you must have the latest thing in which case all these trinkets are essentially disposable and only good for a year or two, or you take the long view and look at what you actually need from a phone, in which case any iPhone made over the last few years is easily good enough to do everything you want for a few years at least - either way spending the rumoured amounts of money on an 8 seems incredibly unnappetising to me.
 
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andrew1995 said:
The prices are getting ridiculous. I don't mind spending £1700 on a MacBook, £1K on the watch because they're all pieces that will be used for more than 2 years. But £1K for a phone that most people upgrade from 2 years later is just too much.

And then there's the reliability. I've looked after all my iPhone's, never smashed a screen, never really dropped them and yet the same thing happens every time, they slow down; lag at the simplest of tasks; the battery becomes awful. In comparison, my MacBook still runs as good as it did 5 years ago.
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Battery is my only complaint. Otherwise, I'm finding the 5c and 5s work surprisingly well for their age. The slowdown isn't as bad as it used to be and likely why Apple has been releasing iOS updates on these devices for longer.

The Apple A10 is roughly the level of Core m processors so around 2016 retina MacBook. It's probably faster when it comes to graphics, too. Around Apple A8 is when they matched mobile Core 2 Duo so around 2009 MacBook.

I got my dad the 2017 iPad with A9. He was using a 5-year old iPad 3 with A5X so I reckon the 2017 iPad will probably last him longer than 5 years.
 
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