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that means Apple will be in trouble?

by amrrs 11y ago

bunderbunder 11y ago
I doubt it. As another poster pointed out, phone companies are still offering payment plans on new phones, so to an approximation all they're really offering is a bit more price transparency on the same old pricing model. Also, let's be blunt: Users of Apple products aren't exactly the most price-sensitive consumers in the market. If anything, it'll just make them less likely to buy new phones like clockwork every two years. But if so then probably all smartphone manufacturers will experience something similar.
- mkozlows 11y ago
  Apple's $650 flagship will probably continue to do fine. But the $450 phones really got a lot of mileage from being "free." If you were buying a phone in 2012 from a normal contract carrier, there really wasn't any way to pay less than $450, because $450 was $0. With real pricing, a $350 phone is $100 less, and anyone who was considering buying a two-year-old phone to save $200 is probably very interested in saving another $100.
  - bunderbunder 11y ago
    Did they? I have seen maybe 2 or 3 5c's in the wild ever, so I just assumed they had tanked on the market. While it's certainly not a random sample, I commute by public transit so I do spend a lot of time watching a lot of people fiddle with their smartphones.
dharma1 11y ago
I think that depends on the pace at which Android is developing. Android hardware is incredibly low priced and there isn't a significant difference between iPhone and a mid range android phone in terms of hardware. If the quality of the OS experience is as good or better than Apple, then Apple marketshare will shrink eventually. They are still making a killing in terms of profit margin, and shifting a lot of units so as a company I'm sure Apple will continue to do well for a long time. Android struggled for a long time with user experience and visual quality, but Android 5 and Material Design has been a huge win for them and I'm pretty sure that trajectory will continue.
tsotha 11y ago
Top of the line Apple phones are veblen goods. But the mid-market stuff may not do as well.

that means Apple will be in trouble?

by amrrs 11y ago

that means Apple will be in trouble?

I doubt it. As another poster pointed out, phone companies are still offering payment plans on new phones, so to an approximation all they're really offering is a bit more price transparency on the same old pricing model. Also, let's be blunt: Users of Apple products aren't exactly the most price-sensitive consumers in the market. If anything, it'll just make them less likely to buy new phones like clockwork every two years. But if so then probably all smartphone manufacturers will experience something similar.

mkozlows 11y ago
Apple's $650 flagship will probably continue to do fine. But the $450 phones really got a lot of mileage from being "free." If you were buying a phone in 2012 from a normal contract carrier, there really wasn't any way to pay less than $450, because $450 was $0. With real pricing, a $350 phone is $100 less, and anyone who was considering buying a two-year-old phone to save $200 is probably very interested in saving another $100.
- bunderbunder 11y ago
  Did they? I have seen maybe 2 or 3 5c's in the wild ever, so I just assumed they had tanked on the market. While it's certainly not a random sample, I commute by public transit so I do spend a lot of time watching a lot of people fiddle with their smartphones.

dharma1 11y ago

I think that depends on the pace at which Android is developing. Android hardware is incredibly low priced and there isn't a significant difference between iPhone and a mid range android phone in terms of hardware. If the quality of the OS experience is as good or better than Apple, then Apple marketshare will shrink eventually. They are still making a killing in terms of profit margin, and shifting a lot of units so as a company I'm sure Apple will continue to do well for a long time. Android struggled for a long time with user experience and visual quality, but Android 5 and Material Design has been a huge win for them and I'm pretty sure that trajectory will continue.

tsotha 11y ago

Top of the line Apple phones are veblen goods. But the mid-market stuff may not do as well.