iPhone 8 Leaks Expose Apple’s Expensive Secrets
iPhone 8 Leaks Expose Apple’s Expensive Secrets:- We know almost everything about the iPhone 8, from its design and new user interface to the potentially revolutionary screen unlock and even the one disappointing omission. But Apple AAPL -1.16%’s biggest secret is going to hit you in the pocket…
With the iPhone 8 launch now very close disbelief remains regarding the phone’s most controversial component: its price. This is because few can believe Apple will ask over 50% more for the iPhone 8 than it did for the iPhone 7. It seems impossible.
Business Insider reports UBS analysts are the latest to have “questioned the logic” of the iPhone 8 costing as much as $1,200. Instead deciding that a “$900 price tag for the base OLED model makes sense” – this in itself is almost 40% more than the $649 base model iPhone 7.
It also begs the question: so a 40% price increase makes sense and has logic but not 50%? Or, to be exact, 53.9% as the iPhone 8 is expected to start at $999 (64GB) rising to $1,099 (256GB) and topping out at $1,199 for a massive 512GB.
And the UBS argument: “If Apple cannot deliver an experience worthy of the brand at a given price band and profitability level, it does not proceed.”
But here’s where analysts are getting it wrong. Aside from multiple major sources recently aligning (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) and citing “people briefed on the product”, there’s misunderstanding about what the iPhone 8 is so let me spell it out:
The iPhone 8 is not the successor to the iPhone 7.
The confusion stems from one of the few areas where questions still remain about 2018’s new iPhones, their names. Based on previous patterns 2017 should be an ‘S year’ but as it involves a redesign the assumption it Apple has jumped straight to ‘iPhone 8’. That’s wrong and, again, not in the way people may predict.
So far the common consensus is the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will be succeeded by new incremental upgrades called the iPhone 7S and iPhone 7S Plus with the iPhone 8 actually the new flagship standing above the Plus range. But new leaks suggest Apple may instead call the iPhone 8 the ‘iPhone Edition’ and the incremental models the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus.
Yes, it’s a mess. And even more so given this is the 10th anniversary of the iPhone and there seems no way Apple can crowbar ‘10’ into the naming (especially after it retired the use of ‘X’ for macOS).
It’s also not how Apple has previously done things. Historically significant design upgrades (iPhone 4, iPhone 5, iPhone 6) were still sold as straight replacements for their predecessors and at similar prices. The feeling Apple is fobbing users off with a fourth identical generation (iPhone 6, iPhone 6S, iPhone 7, iPhone 7S) in order to charge more for an ‘iPhone 8’ which should be the real upgrade will be palpable.
Furthermore pricing is only likely to go higher from here.
The reason for this is the iPhone 8 will not sit at the top of the tree for long if early reports are true about its successor. Alongside an ‘iPhone 9’ in 2018 will be a massive 6.46-inch ’iPhone 9 Plus’ which are expected to signal the end of line for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus-inspired designs.
It will be out with the old, and in with the much more expensive new.
None of which is to say the iPhone 8 and subsequent 2018 models won’t be worth their price tags. A stellar list of upgrades is coming are coming but this is no long about what an iPhone is ‘worth’ or whether its price is ‘aspirational’, it’s simply about whether they are affordable. It is about whether Apple would prefer to sell fewer iPhones and ease its supply chain demands but make more profit on each model.
Ultimately it’s about what Apple wants its customer base to be.
It’s also about facing facts. Just as the latest Macs and MacBook Pros are significantly more expensive than their predecessors, so will the iPhone 8 will be by far the most expensive iPhone ever made. How customers react to this (and whether we see the dawn of the three year carrier contract) is likely to define Apple’s product strategy from its 10th anniversary celebrations to the 20th…
Source- https://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2017/09/05/apple-iphone-8-price-cost-specs-release-date-camera/#53d06d20743b
