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Tim Cook on iPhone XS: People Want the Most Innovative Phone Possible and 'It's Not Cheap to Do That'
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Apple, carriers, and other companies respond to customer demand. Customers want the best phones they can buy, and Apple will give it to them at a price. Carriers respond by financing the devices at 0% interest to make them appear affordable. None of these companies are financial advisors - it is up to the individual customer to decide if they can afford it or not. If only the people that could actually afford it bought an iPhone XS, the product would have never been made because it wouldn't be economically viable to produce in such limited numbers.
Mortgages are different than financing a cell phone. For one thing, real estate typically increases in value and so at the end of the mortgage you have an asset that is worth more than you paid. That will never be true with a cell phone.
I never said if someone had a $400K mortgage they shouldn't buy a new iPhone. I said if you couldn't afford to respond to a $1000 emergency if you bought the new iPhone, you can't afford it. It doesn't matter if you have no debt or a $400K mortgage, if you can't pay a $1000 emergency tomorrow you can't afford a new iPhone.
I cannot afford a new Mercedes, I CAN afford a new Subaru...should I be demanding that Mercedes make a car as affordable as the Subaru, but still as good as the Mercedes? Am I entitled to a car as good as the Mercedes, but as affordable as the Subaru? The answer to both questions is no...and the same goes for Apple. Apple's lineup starts at $449 USD and goes all the way up to $1449 USD. No one is entitled to an iPhone Xs or Xs Max and if your budget does not allow for one of those than you have choices, including a cheaper alternative that is about a month away from being able to order.
Apple does make a phone for everyone, just as Mercedes makes a car for everyone. It is up to the individual to decide if what is being offered is of value to them and buy accordingly. I can afford a CLA Coupe, which is MB's cheapest car, but I do not value it enough to spend the money on it, but others do or it would not exist. So if you do not value the iPhone 7, that is your right, but if someone else does and they are happy with it, then Apple has made a phone for "everyone", in the broader sense.
Why Apple is treated the way they are by not offering a phone cheaper than $449 or lowering the cost of their other phones to satisfy people's whims is beyond me. No one bitches this much about Samsung or Dell or Microsoft or Mercedes or Range Rover or a thousand other company's products, but Apple get this hate every single time they release a product no matter the cost.
The turning in your old phone thing is why Apple offers the iPhone Upgrade Plan. Here in the UK you can get a new iPhone every year on IUP if you turn in your current phone in good condition. Otherwise keep paying and the phone is yours after 20 months payment. As the 20 months payments = (cost of phone + AppleCare)/20, Apple is essentially offering 20 months interest free credit to buy a phone. For my iPhone X 256GB, I can either rent it (and a subsequent Xs) for £60pm/£720 per year, or own it outright for 20 months interest free payments of £60.
Personally I’m happy to pay mine off and have the phone/asset to either sell or hand down to my wife/son, but that will be at least a year off and possibly more. And enough people are upgrading from the X to the Xs on the iUP for the plan to be worth Apple’s while to offer it to the yearly upgrade folk.
Even before the iPhone X price busting cost last year, the trend here in the UK was towards buying the handset separately and then pay for either a 30 day or 12 month rolling contract for service. Many do still get the phone through their carrier, but it works out more expensive than getting the same handset and service separately.
The must-upgrade-every-year people are happy, those on a longer upgrade cycle also seem to be happy. Not to mention a steady supply of used phones for the second hand & good-as-new markets.
last time I checked, the price to make an iPhone is I don't know like 50 to 100 the most but is probably like 30 dollars
so how is that not cheap Tim?????
if I were you Tim I will use another excuse to justify the price
something like
we have to spent thousands of dollar in software development
we have to pay our software engineer
etc
but please don't use the hardware excuse because we know that making an iPhone doesn't cost that much
you are a straight up bad lair
next time come up with a better excuse
so how is that not cheap Tim?????
if I were you Tim I will use another excuse to justify the price
something like
we have to spent thousands of dollar in software development
we have to pay our software engineer
etc
but please don't use the hardware excuse because we know that making an iPhone doesn't cost that much
you are a straight up bad lair
next time come up with a better excuse
That's why the Xr will be the best selling phone. I never would've gotten the Xs over my X, but I got the Max because that 6.5" OLED is going to be amazing for viewing content.
As far as per month, I would almost rather pay for it up front so I don't need AppleCare like I do under the upgrade program, but it at least lessens the blow and I don't have to try to sell it on eBay or something later. That program is huge for a lot of people who wouldn't front that kind of cash though.
It comes down to this for people, you're either loaded or you use your phone several times more often than any thing you own and love the latest and greatest tech like I do. If you don't care as much, get the Xr and be done with it. It'll still be a great phone.
I don't understand the complaining. Yes, of course it'd be great if it was cheaper, but until the market tells them collectively that it isn't going to fly anymore, they're not going to stop charging what they do.
As far as per month, I would almost rather pay for it up front so I don't need AppleCare like I do under the upgrade program, but it at least lessens the blow and I don't have to try to sell it on eBay or something later. That program is huge for a lot of people who wouldn't front that kind of cash though.
It comes down to this for people, you're either loaded or you use your phone several times more often than any thing you own and love the latest and greatest tech like I do. If you don't care as much, get the Xr and be done with it. It'll still be a great phone.
I don't understand the complaining. Yes, of course it'd be great if it was cheaper, but until the market tells them collectively that it isn't going to fly anymore, they're not going to stop charging what they do.
Not to mention Tim Cook's net worth as a result of Apple's greed--hundreds of millions of dollars.
If you think like half the folks here you should be demanding/expecting Mercedes AMG vehicles at Ford Fiesta S prices.... and whine about Mercedes *greed* in not providing that to you...
That's tough to just isolate like that though. Sure you may need that $1,000 for an instant transaction but that doesn't mean that's your only liquid funds available. Even still, and I'm not exactly advocating the payment plans but the consistency of it is something comfortable for people to grasp. Most people don't pay their phone bills, insurance, car payments (stretching, I know) in advanced either. Really not trying to titrate what's what when talking about being financially responsible but there's a difference when talking about people not having enough money to choose the option of going on the payment plan or buying outright versus the people having a chunk of savings that will always be there for when they need it and choosing to go on the payment plan. Realistically, most people can't technically afford the multitude of services they have let alone the physical objects that use them but they do make it work and personally I find calling that irresponsible too broad. It's very subjective to define what someone can afford based on their method of obtaining things.
An AMG doesn't go up in price 50% YoYIf you think like half the folks here you should be demanding/expecting Mercedes AMG vehicles at Ford Fiesta S prices.... and whine about Mercedes *greed* in not providing that to you...
Companies have a “moral requirement to make money”
https://arstechnica.com/science/201...e-400-citing-moral-requirement-to-make-money/
https://arstechnica.com/science/201...e-400-citing-moral-requirement-to-make-money/
People expect to bully Apple into lower prices. Then they walk away with their $1500 phone and their tail between their legs. Don't buy it!
This. In the UK the cheapest deal you can get is about around £60 a month. $30 my A**!!!!
What went up 50%?
2017 iphone X 64GB $999 256GB $1199
2018 iphone XS 64GB $999 256GB $1149
There wasn't a 2017 iphone X max -- and there wasn't a 512GB option on the 2017 models.
I didn’t say they weren’t different. I was explicitly talking about the people who can’t afford it. These payment plans were made for them.
But looking at your example I can’t say I share your definition of being able to afford. I would only spend money on a phone upgrade that I don’t absolutely need (eg. for work) if I also know I know reasonably for certain that I won’t need that amount of money. In other words, that phone money would have to be insignificant compared to the rest of my savings, such that it wouldn’t make much difference if any common emergency situation were to arise, which I would categorize a major car repair under. And $1000 is a significant amount of money for most people, so I’m basically saying if I were in most people’s shoes I wouldn’t buy a $1000 phone. But that’s me.
It makes a little more sense to me if you want to earn interest on the money you’re not spending right away by keeping it in an interest-earning/investment account, though it wouldn’t be that much.
The iPhone SE, 6, 6 plus, 6S and 6S plus are all still available for sale. Go check Apple's Web site under Compare iPhone Models. They all show as available for sale through resellers.
Apple has quite ingeniously entered the budget phone market while still appearing to be a premium product company. They essentially get to have their cake and eat it too.
They get their sales volume selling through MVNO's and they get their profit selling direct to consumers through their stores. Pretty impressive if you ask me.
What’s BS is you purposely conflating statements from over a year ago on innovation as if they apply to the topic at hand when it comes to there being a wide price range of very capable phones available. Which were you commenting on again?
I hate to break this news to people on an Apple forum, but no new iPhone comparable to the flagship of a given year will EVER be low cost. It’s simply not how Apple or capitalism itself works.