Ming-Chi Kuo Says iPhone XR Demand Has Been Lower Than Expected, Slashes Shipment Estimates

[Mosey Potter]

I bought a new iPhone 7 a couple of months ago. Seeing the xr was available for less than what I had paid for the 7, I was quite surprised. Then I saw the asterisk and upon further checking, Apple told me that the phone I had just paid $550 for was actually only worth $250 or $275 on trade. Hmmm. I think the marketing team at Apple (who I am quite certain read all of the comments here) have, in some cases like mine, accidentally done some negative messaging with this promo. Unintended for sure, but still. Oops.
Gotta say though, I love the 7, having upgraded from the 5, and really have no interest in the bells and whistles that are in the new phones. My needs are easily met with the older technology and I expect to use the 7 for the next 5-6 years before having to consider upgrading to a new phone. Which will probably be forced by Apple when they stop providing software updates for my phone. That, in fact, was the only reason I upgraded from the 5 to the 7. Would very much have wanted to have been given the choice to purchase a SE2 instead of the 7, but...

 

[MultiMan]

I work for one of the two biggest carriers and the XR is by far our best selling phone. So this news comes at a surprise to me.

I guess you're in the US? The pricing in many other markets are horrendous and at the level of other brands flagship phones, but with less memory, only LCD and missing a lot of other stuff the competitors have. Not surprising if the XR struggles there.

 

[Wide opeN]

Hopefully Tim Cook can have a good idea as to where to go next. Releasing new products at higher prices than the old products and keeping the old products available around the same price didn't really seem like a thing that Jobs did. Generally if they were releasing a computer or a phone it was the same price or lower and then if they kept the old one around they would drop the price. Doesn't seem to be happening anymore.

Ex. selling the old Mac Book Air and the new one the same starting point of $999 seems asinine to me!!!

 

[GuruZac]

As I predicted earlier biggest villains of XR is XS and XS MAX, biggest villain for XS and XS MAX is XR. You just jkee them both next to each other and confuse the customer, they don't take neither!

XR has to be significantly (not just 10%-20%) reduce price for people to convince themselves go for XR if Apple feels compelled NOT to reduce prices of XS and XS MAX. If you lower prices of XS & XS MAX then people will go after those two instead of XR.

Either way XR is a loss-loss product line!

I think you have this backwards to some degree. The XR is selling better than the XS and XS Max, it's just not selling as well as Ming predicted. Many people do not see the value in the additional features the XS models have over the XR, plus the XR is available in a very convenient 128GB storage, which, for many is a sweet spot in storage size. Apple at the very least should have started the XS range at 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB. If the XS was $999 with 128GB, I can almost promise you it would be selling better. But to be forced to pay $1150 pre tax, pre Apple Care, pre case to get a usable amount of storage is tough. The reason I went for the XR is I just could see the benefit in paying $300 more for a screen that didn't appear to be that much better, 3D Touch, and a zoom lens camera. The XR is turning out to be the most underrated iPhone ever. Everyone bags it until they actually use it. This is why basically every review and blogger who used an XS and then an XR ends the review with "...the XR is 95% of the XS experience at 75% of the price."

 

[Phone Junky]

If they were cheaper, I might consider getting one to replace my 6s plus. The way apple has been increasing prices is just insane.

Your 6s plus cost the same $749 as the XR, when it was released, only it came with 16GB storage instead of 64GB. That's some "insane price increase", eh?

 

[kazmac]

Perhaps Apple will wisely slash the price next year (new model or this same one).

An Apple sales rep was pushing hard for me to take the bonus 7+ trade in for the XR. I told her not interested in any X phones and need something smaller. My trade in towards an 8 would be lower, but a new phone is not my priority right now.

She was taken aback.

As far as the screen on the XR, it looked very washed out to me.

Anyway, I know some folks love this phone that’s great. I’d be one of you if it was smaller and $150-$200 cheaper without a trade in.

 

[BGPL]

Apple is tanking from lack of progression. Hopefully they don't just stand by and hope for the best - they need to take action and get new leadership in place to shake things up.

 

[44267547]

Or Apple became greedy and still isn’t learning about the pricing being too high

So what about the competition prices? You stated Apple has become to ‘Greedy.’ Samsung and Google have comparable prices to Apple’s, are they considered greedy too? Everyone wants to point the finger at Apple, but fails to mention the competition who also has inflated prices for their smart phones in addition.

 

[GuruZac]

I couldn’t and still can’t get my head around why they made and released the XR, it’s way over priced, if there was going to be a cheaper version why not just drop the price of the iPhone 8.

How is it way overpriced? It's a better phone in nearly every way, including the screen, than my 7 Plus was, other than 3D Touch, which Haptic is damn close in the areas already implemented. I looked at both screens back to back and cannot tell a difference, yet the colors look more vibrant on the XR. I paid $50 less for my XR than I did for my 7 Plus, both in the 128GB storage. The camera is better on the XR and having used both back to back, the XR is appreciably faster which says a lot, because the 7 Plus is still a beast. I think for what it is, the XR offers a lot for the money.

 

[jcshas]

There seems to be a lot of finger pointing lately on the cost of new iPhones and although I agree they are overpriced, especially with the XS and XS Max, I think the lagging sales has more to do with the fact that people just aren’t upgrading as often as they once did due to the lack of new features.

 

[GuruZac]

So what about the competition prices? You stated Apple has become to ‘Greedy.’ Samsung and Google have comparable prices to Apple’s, are they considered greedy too? Everyone wants to point the finger at Apple, but fails to mention the competition who also has inflated prices for their smart phones in addition.

I am one to point out Apple has gotten ludicrous with pricing, but this is also true. Flagship smartphones in general have gotten insane.

 

[Duel]

As far as the screen on the XR, it looked very washed out to me

Very washed out? That's weird. I own X and compared it to XR and couldn't see much difference. X colours were littlebit deeper, For me XR had great screen.

Do you mean compared to some super punchy Android OLEDs? Then i can understand, those are not my cup of tee, i like balanced natural looking screen where nothing is Jumping out.

 

[GuruZac]

It’s a good wake-up call for Apple and reminds them that they can’t get away with price increases year after year. Consumers just won’t tolerate it and the smartphone market is saturated at the moment. There is very little that an iPhone Xs can do that an iPhone 7 can’t.
Apple will need to come out with some really innovative must have functions and a price decrease to stimulate sales next year.
I would give anything to be a fly on the wall at Apple boardroom meetings to hear what their reaction is to flagging sales

Yeah, I struggled with upgrading my 7 Plus. It was such a great phone but I wanted to move up to the X experience. I figure the XR should last 2-3 years as I can't see what new must have feature will come out at this point. And there's simply no way Apple will be able to raise prices in the near term.

 

[skitidetdu]

People see the Xr as a budget version of the "real deal", but 750$ is not cheap or budget. Which makes the Xs and Xs max feel even more expensive than they perhaps are. Most people who are willing to 999$ for a phone did so last year and this year many may not see the reason to upgrade.

 

[Dave245]

How is it way overpriced? It's a better phone in nearly every way, including the screen, than my 7 Plus was, other than 3D Touch, which Haptic is damn close in the areas already implemented. I looked at both screens back to back and cannot tell a difference, yet the colors look more vibrant on the XR. I paid $50 less for my XR than I did for my 7 Plus, both in the 128GB storage. The camera is better on the XR and having used both back to back, the XR is appreciably faster which says a lot, because the 7 Plus is still a beast. I think for what it is, the XR offers a lot for the money.

Because for just a little more you can get the iPhone XS which has a dual camera, OLED screen, 3D Touch, glass back (which I think looks better). If Apple has priced it around £500 then yea but at the current price no.

 

[skitidetdu]

Because for just a little more you can get the iPhone XS which has a dual camera, OLED screen, 3D Touch, glass back (which I think looks better). If Apple has priced it around £500 then yea but at the current price no.

I think at 699 it would sell way better. It is only a 50$ difference but it "feels" much less.

 

[Defthand]

The decline in smartphone mania was inevitable. You might blame “market saturation” and higher prices, but I predicted that consumers would simply bore when the novelty wore off. It happens with every consumer product.

Now, what will tomorrow’s fanboys say to today’s iPhone generation when the iPhone becomes a legacy device that is ubiquitous and no longer a focus? Will today’s phoneheads reminisce about Tim Cook’s reign and iMessage? By the way, the iPhone’s potential is peaking after only ten years. The dismissed PC took decades to reach the same fate.

 

[ftaok]

I couldn’t and still can’t get my head around why they made and released the XR, it’s way over priced, if there was going to be a cheaper version why not just drop the price of the iPhone 8.

They did drop the price of the 8

 

[Dranix]

Because for just a little more you can get the iPhone XS which has a dual camera, OLED screen, 3D Touch, glass back (which I think looks better). If Apple has priced it around £500 then yea but at the current price no.

Just a little? x_X

OLED: NEVER will I buy a OLED screen. I hate the flickering and the unreal colors

DualCam: What for? I have real cameras for important photography - not the toys build into smartphones

3D Touch will be dead next year

Xr has a glass back, too

 

[ahaslam]

Not only is the XR/XS line too expensive, but the main reason I haven't upgraded is Apple keeps taking away hardware without giving us better (or at least equivalent) replacements. For example, I really miss Touch ID, if only for convenience. I've tried out Face ID and I just don't like it! I'll be holding onto my iPhone 7 as long as possible, either until it breaks, or until they give us something that doesn't take away from the user experience.

 

[Dranix]

Not only is the XR/XS line too expensive, but the main reason I haven't upgraded is Apple keeps taking away hardware without giving us better (or at least equivalent) replacements. For example, I really miss Touch ID, if only for convenience. I've tried out Face ID and I just don't like it! I'll be holding onto my iPhone 7 as long as possible, either until it breaks, or until they give us something that doesn't take away from the user experience.

Strange why don't you like it? I love it and don't miss Touch ID the slightest bit...

 

[iSayuSay]

People just grew tired with Apple's tactics with new iPhones. XS starts at $999 for minuscule difference from the X, and XR while still a good phone, hindered by relatively "low resolution" display.

Most tech savvies buy iPhone because of the ecosystem. Apple Music, Siri, iMessage, AppStore and bunch of iOS tricks to stay in Apple's garden. Older iPhone can do that, so why buy a new underspecced or overpriced iPhone while something like 8 Plus or X tick all the the checkboxes just fine.

 

[zombiecoops]

I definitely want one when it comes time to upgrade. But Verizon has been super stingy to current customers. They don't offer any worthwhile deals, $100 off....that's it....so I'll wait for my upgrade and it will be a year old and discounted.

 

[Freida]

Why would anyone go for LCD when OLED is available? The XR is redundant. I am not expecting Apple to introduce its new upgraded version next year.

Because OLED is worse. Just the flickering alone makes me wanna stay away from it.
Don't need to have super deep blacks with a massive headache

 

[krspkbl]

Apple will need to find their next big money maker real fast. People are realising they don't need to drop £750-1450 on the newest iPhone. There are much cheaper phones out there that work just as well. I can only see the most diehard loyal Apple fans and people who are too heavily invested in the ecosystem staying.

They should introduce more models. Instead of offering old models for a lower price then create new products for those price ranges. I mean, I could buy an iPhone 7 for £450 but I don't really want a 2 year old piece of hardware. I could spend that money elsewhere and get something more up to date.

I don't think iPhones or smartphones are going anywhere soon but Apple need to find a new product that will sell like crazy. They had the iPod and it looks like the iPhone will be joining it unless Apple get with the times.