Turnout for iPhone 8 Launch in Australia 'Bleak' as Customers Hold Out for Upcoming iPhone X

[macgabe]

i think anyone who can drop £700+ on a phone isn't going to miss another £300. some people just have more money than sense especially when it comes to Apple.

i'm not paying £1,000 for a phone and was interested in the X. I could have looked at the iPhone 8 but £700 is still a ridiculous amount of money for a phone and no way am I paying £700 for a phone that looks/performs worse.

There comes a point where people think, which do I use more, my computer/tablet/laptop or my phone? Which is more useful? Which delivers greater productivity? Which am I looking at 3 am, on the bus, at dinner, in a cafe, as I'm walking down the stairs, unlocking the door, crossing the road, watching my favourite shows, listening to my favourite songs, sharing jokes with friends, fixing appointments, checking fitness, wasting hours of time playing games, getting my news, recording my kid's birthdays. You only live once, that time is precious. If you can upgrade the experience during that time many will do so for a week or two's salary.

 

[TsMkLg068426]

Seriously who wants an iPhone 8 though.

No one but seriously who wants to pay a $1000 for a phone when you will upgrade it again in 3-4 years or you can just save the $1000 add another $1000 and get a nice iMac or a iPad sure I can't make a phone call on those but that is pretty much what I use my iPhone for calls, scheduling, texting and games and not much for streaming movies on a small screen.

 

[rctlr]

Apple in Westfield London will be besieged by a Samsung Popup showroom this weekend by the looks, maybe take a couple of sales off the White City Store.

 

[sdugoten]

No one but seriously who wants to pay a $1000 for a phone when you will upgrade it again in 3-4 years or you can just save the $1000 add another $1000 and get a nice iMac or a iPad sure I can't make a phone call on those but that is pretty much what I use my iPhone for calls, scheduling, texting and games and not much for streaming movies on a small screen.

You wanna bet people will be screaming here in 3 month becoz they still cant get the iphone X due to insane demand?

Just FYI, The jet black iphone 7 plus was selling at premium price becoz they only offer this model at higher storage model. The jet black end up become the most saught after model and it was backorder for a long time globally.

 

[Cloudsurfer]

Good. Lower demand = lower production rate = less likely to have failures. During the iPhone 6 I was an early adopter and I had to bring back my phone twice due to manufacturing defects. At the time it was speculated to have been caused by the high production rate.

Seriously who wants an iPhone 8 though.

It's either that or a €1200 phone. I could almost buy 2 iPhones 8's for that price. The low demand for the 8 will probably be the end for the iPhone 6 form factor, I don't think they will continue to make an 8s or 9 or whatever and just stick to the X next year. And by that time hopefully it will not be €1200.

 

[rikscha]

WHike in Japan 10x bigger than Australia long queues and sold out.

 

[827538]

I skipped this year, I was ready to buy the X but honestly it’s just not worth £1k.

Give me an iPhone 8 with a 1080p OLED display and TouchID instead of FaceID.

 

[chatin]

The most basic marketing mistake there is in tech detailed by Adam Osborne in his book Hypergrowth. Promote a future, better product and sales suffer greatly of what is in stock.

 

[MH01]

Lack of demand? And more then a month away before the pre-order date, you know this exactly how?
People like you come up with the same philosophy every single year, and every single year get proven wrong.

Im not saying that. A sarcastic comment that demand will be huge, and you will not get yours faster....cause demand will be low
[doublepost=1506073735][/doublepost]

I am sure they do this for 2 reasons:

1. Assure people have flexibility with color and memory changes.
2. Assure any defective phones can be easily swapped.

Though they never do this when they normally sell out. You cannot go in with a colour you do not like or a defect and get a replacement, you have to wait

 

[Gilligan's last elephant]

Yes, because everyone wants a mini iPhone.

But before Apple made large screen phones, the iPhone was the perfect and optimum size. Nobody wanted a large screen iphone ;-)

 

[eddjedi]

If you're underwhelmed with the 8 (or in my case 7 too) just download iOS 11 instead, my 6s feels like a new phone. Visually this is the most different iOS for years, and it still feels perfectly snappy on the 6s.

 

[MH01]

But before Apple made large screen phones, the iPhone was the perfect and optimum size. Nobody wanted a large screen iphone ;-)

Its interesting how thoughts change and how people can argue against one thing so strongly, till apple adopts it, at which point it becomes the best thing since slice bread.

I still think the 5 is the best phone apple made, though the 4 is my favourite. Current generation has so much android phablet influence , chasing $$ and gimmicks over user experience.

 

[827538]

I'm on a 2015 iPhone 6s Plus now. I too was planning to upgrade to an iPhone X, until I discovered all the shortcoming it has. Screen size downgrade from my current iPhone, more limited in landscape mode, no Reachability feature, and forced to run iOS 11 with its shortcomings (no 32-bit app support, 3D Touch to enter app switcher, easy backup and sync with iTunes 12.6).

It is basically an early adopter sneak-peak product at this point, with a high price to match, and I think that getting one is a decision I would regret next year.

I don’t understand the complaints about the killing off of 32bit support. I think it’s a good idea and developers can easily transition if they wanted to.

But I agree about the rest of things. For me the 4.7” with 1080p OLED display would be the sweetspot. I really don’t want to lose TouchID.

I’ll be waiting with my 6S which is still great until next year. I don’t know how Apple can justify a £700 iphone with a 750p LCD display any more. I can get a Galaxy S8 with a full screen OLED for less money.

 

[iapplelove]

The iPhone X will be the one folks are planning to wait for, but when they find out they'll probably have to wait until 2018 to get one, they'll "settle" for the iPhone 8.

I am still rocking my iPhone 6 Plus and debating whether to wait for the X or just get the 8 Plus. Or just keep with my 6 until it fails (since my AppleCare just expired).

Another happy 6 plus owner here!

 

[eddjedi]

I don’t know how Apple can justify a £700 iphone with a 750p LCD display any more. I can get a Galaxy S8 with a full screen OLED for less money.

I just looked up historical launch prices. 10 years ago in 2007, the original iPhone cost $499. So it has doubled in price in 10 years. Has the innovation doubled? Definitely not. Has my disposable income doubled? Nope. And does Apple seriously expect us to believe that 64GB of storage in 2017 costs them more than 4GB did in 2007? Again, I doubt it.

 

[iapplelove]

Its interesting how thoughts change and how people can argue against one thing so strongly, till apple adopts it, at which point it becomes the best thing since slice bread.

I still think the 5 is the best phone apple made, though the 4 is my favourite. Current generation has so much android phablet influence , chasing $$ and gimmicks over user experience.

I dunno, gimmicks? My 6 plus has been by far the best smart phone I have owned. And I had every iPhone up till that one. Guess it’s just preference over opinion.

 

[johnmed]

If I can't get an Iphone X. I think its best just to buy the iPhone 7 and put a case that has wireless charging. Then wait for the Iphone XI

Or the iPhone X S. Has a nice sound to it.

 

[MH01]

I dunno, gimmicks? My 6 plus has been by far the best smart phone I have owned. And I had every iPhone up till that one. Guess it’s just preference over opinion.

I really liked my 6S, to be honest, the 6 would have been great, had it not crashed constantly on me, which was fixed by the 6S getting more memory.

The reason I say 4, is cause, I take into account what the competition had at the time, the 4 was like a Leica of phones

 

[Ries]

my daughter (11) wants an 8.. (she currently uses a 7+)..

she likes the gold color & glass back & new camera features (the portrait modes and whatnot).
mostly the color/glass

she'd rather the 8 than the X with the main reason being the color.

(just giving an example of a real world* reason to get iPhone8)

*obviously it's a 1st world reason.. but valid none the less


------
that said, once she uses the animojis and subsequent apps which do similar, pretty sure she'll then want a X instead.

And your daughter is the one paying for it? Because I wouldn't say no to a free iPhone 8 either.

 

[borntrouble]

Very good. This was long overdue.

 

[Johns12]

Just amazes me that after a report about low turnout in Australia, people have the IPhone 8 doomed. Overblown statements about how no one wants to buy an 8. It's been up for sale for a few hours. Hasn't been released in the US yet. I own a Samsung S7edge and have a Note 8 on order but I would be the last person to make comments about how Apple is doomed. Apple is doing just fine.

 

[maflynn]

Not surprised by the "bleak" turnout. Mostly because of the X, but also partly due to the less then exciting features in the 8. Why pay more for basically the same iPhone 7. The only big feature is wireless charging, and that seems kind of sad to me. I mean its a feature that's been standard in other phones for many years but its now the one major feature of the iPhone 8.

I will say the 8 look gorgeous with the glass back, but thanks to apple's wacky idea of keeping a camera bump, I'd say a case is needed, thus covering up the glass.

 

[travelsheep]

If you're underwhelmed with the 8 (or in my case 7 too) just download iOS 11 instead, my 6s feels like a new phone. Visually this is the most different iOS for years, and it still feels perfectly snappy on the 6s.

iOS 11 is like iOS 10 on cocaine: whatever switch you flip it literally never goes to sleep

 

[KevinMac]

Maybe just more online orders than in store?

 

[maflynn]

Maybe just more online orders than in store?

Without hard numbers its hard to tell, but given how long it took for online orders to slip into the 2 - 3 week window, one could postulate that even those online orders were less then prior years.

What's impacting the sales imo, is that apple is still selling the iPhone 7 and if you don't care about the wireless charging, then it may make sense to save money and buy that.