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The Phone That’s Failing Apple: iPhone XR

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Re: The Phone That’s Failing Apple: iPhone XR

#161

Post by woodson »

systoll wrote: post #152
throw0u1t wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But I don't want an iPhone 7 or an 8. And it makes no sense that Apple sell both the 7 and the 8. Apple should make a phone like the SE which is made for the low-mid market, not just discount its old models.

The SE wasn’t made for the low-mid market. It was a miniaturised iPhone 6s released while the 6s was ‘current’, and got to ‘low-mid market’ pricing by being discounted as it got older.

That’s not quite true. When it came out, a 6s was about $649 and an SE was $399.

Re: The Phone That’s Failing Apple: iPhone XR

#162

Post by oarsinsync »

wwweston wrote: post #106
jinushaun wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes! You hit the nail on the head! The iPhone needs to be split between iPhone Mini, iPhone and iPhone Pro, instead of current model of “last year”, “this year medium” and “this year large”. As much as I wanted to love the iPhone SE, it always felt like last year’s model. It wasn’t a differentiated product that had a proper update cycle. A lot of people in the community were hoping for a proper update to the SE. I al…

How often do people find in practice they have to think about specs at all? I'm typing this on an SE. It is, of course, literally last year's phone (two years) but both when I bought it and now, there's nothing except the camera that doesn't feel well above adequate (and the camera, while missing some neat low light features, is adequate) and there's a few things that feel optimal about it that simply aren't availabl…

> What are people doing with their phones that drives a sense that last year's specs aren't good enough?

Wanting to play the new game showcased in the announcement. and other news games that come out, that requires the latest phone to play smoothly and without utterly destroying my battery in under 2 hours.

EDIT: That said, I care less about performance specs and more about physical size, and so I too am still on an iPhone SE

Re: The Phone That’s Failing Apple: iPhone XR

#163

Post by outime »

jakobegger wrote: post #160

Can someone explain why Apple needs to make the iPhone more expensive when the Dollar rises compared to the Yuan? The iPhone is produced in China, most of the components are produced in Asia, etc. Their fixed costs per phone should drop when the dollar is strong. Sure, their margins might take a hit, but raising prices isn't going to help them sell phones... Similarly, why doesn't the phone price drop in the US? The…

I believe you’re not considering the most obvious factor, which is that Apple has been raising devices price for a long time with huge success - so why not keep raising it?

Granted, there’s a breaking point and it may very well be this time, but if people are willing to pay for the increase in almost every new release then there’s no reason to stop doing it.

Re: The Phone That’s Failing Apple: iPhone XR

#164

Post by Animats »

lostlogin wrote: post #13
throw0u1t wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But I don't want an iPhone 7 or an 8. And it makes no sense that Apple sell both the 7 and the 8. Apple should make a phone like the SE which is made for the low-mid market, not just discount its old models.

I’d take a high spec small phone. This is apparently an unusual thing to want.

Phone screens had to get bigger to accommodate ads. With small screens, the content takes up all the space and there's no extra room for ads.

Re: The Phone That’s Failing Apple: iPhone XR

#166

Post by have_faith »

rahoulb wrote: post #138
protomyth wrote: post #5

I cannot help but think that an iPhone XR mini would have been a great seller if it hit the $450 range. I just don't understand Apple these days, its like they have reverted to the early 90's where they kept jacking the price until even the loyal customers had to exit the ship. I had so believed they would repeat the iPod strategy and start at the top end and slowly squeeze the market by introducing models that fille…

Someone made the point that Apples margins are quite consistent and have been for years. But a larger proportion of their revenue comes from services which are normally very high margin. Which implies that they are actually cutting their margins on hardware - in other words the phones are expensive because they cost more to build, not because Apple are getting greedy.

> because they cost more to build

Then they should offer models that are cheaper to manufacture, like the 5c. I'm surprised not to see a successor to the 5c. Maybe they are worried it would be too popular and gouge sales of flagship models negating some of their premium branding.

I'm currently on a 6s and see no update path for myself, I would happily sacrifice faceID and some of the higher-end phone materials for a modern paired down iPhone. I have about as much confidence in this appearing though as them fixing the state of the keyboards on the MBP's.

Re: The Phone That’s Failing Apple: iPhone XR

#167

Post by robin_reala »

threeseed wrote: post #6
protomyth wrote: post #5

I cannot help but think that an iPhone XR mini would have been a great seller if it hit the $450 range. I just don't understand Apple these days, its like they have reverted to the early 90's where they kept jacking the price until even the loyal customers had to exit the ship. I had so believed they would repeat the iPod strategy and start at the top end and slowly squeeze the market by introducing models that fille…

I don't understand why people are so confused on this. Apple ships models that fill the lower price brands. It is the iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 which are still supported and being sold.

…unless you’re in Germany.

Re: The Phone That’s Failing Apple: iPhone XR

#168

Post by gvurrdon »

m0zg wrote: post #134

Only Apple can name their phone "excess" and price it at $1k+ and still nobody catches on. For those able to count, that's _five times_ what a decent Android Pie handset costs (Nokia 6.1, $200) for nowhere near 5x difference in anything. In fact the Nokia has a phone jack and standard USB-C power. I've been iPhone user since iPhone 1, and I currently have iPhone 8, but even I am contemplating a switch.

Thanks, that Nokia 6.1 looks interesting. I note the mention of how the sides are designed to be gripped securely; my iPhone 8 always feels a bit slippery.

If I could find a suitable replacement for the Apple Watch (which I find very useful) then I'd be very tempted by this.

Re: The Phone That’s Failing Apple: iPhone XR

#169

Post by youngtaff »

threeseed wrote: post #6
protomyth wrote: post #5

I cannot help but think that an iPhone XR mini would have been a great seller if it hit the $450 range. I just don't understand Apple these days, its like they have reverted to the early 90's where they kept jacking the price until even the loyal customers had to exit the ship. I had so believed they would repeat the iPod strategy and start at the top end and slowly squeeze the market by introducing models that fille…

I don't understand why people are so confused on this. Apple ships models that fill the lower price brands. It is the iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 which are still supported and being sold.

iPhone 7 is a 2 1/2 year old phone and Apple still want to charge a premium price for it!

Re: The Phone That’s Failing Apple: iPhone XR

#170

Post by mcrae »

jakobegger wrote: post #160

Can someone explain why Apple needs to make the iPhone more expensive when the Dollar rises compared to the Yuan? The iPhone is produced in China, most of the components are produced in Asia, etc. Their fixed costs per phone should drop when the dollar is strong. Sure, their margins might take a hit, but raising prices isn't going to help them sell phones... Similarly, why doesn't the phone price drop in the US? The…

Labour might be priced in CNY, but most of the expensive bits in the BOM are from non-Chinese firms like Qualcomm, Samsung, and others and would be in USD denominated contracts most likely.
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