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Ask HN: How does Apple convince people to buy so many iPhones?
Apple generated $365 billion revenue in 2021, 52% came from iPhone sales (240 M iPhones sold that year alone). The iPhone and smartphones in general is a mature market at this point. How does Apple, who updates the iPhone with small and incremental updates annually, entice so many people to still buy iPhones each year?
- throwmeup123 4y agoI have two blind family members and iOS changed their life and is adding new features with every update. Android on the other hand is an atrocious mess of half-assed features. There is no implementation either from google or third parties that come even a smidge close. Until that gap is fixed, I will hand my money over to apple and will lobby everyone to do the same.
- bitsavers 4y agoGoogle bought Android for the eyeballs it would bring to their ads. They honestly could care less about user experience or usablility. Apple built their portable device to generate a customer base for their store. Anything that makes that easier makes Apple money. People keep updating their phones because of lock in and by making sure the updates don't work well on old phones.
- WheelsAtLarge 4y agoThey made it a fashion item. It became a must have if you're fashion continuous. They also made it a best in show. If you're are looking for the best, it's a no brainier to buy an iphone. Otherwise you need to be a highly informed tech consumer to understand what a top level phone is. It's too much trouble for most people. Easy sells tech. I don't want to spend too much effort to figure out how to use my phone. If the iPhone saves me a minute of frustration then I'm buying it. They made it affordable by getting financing for it. People can buy it even though it's expensive. Lastly, it really is a cult. People like to be part of the apple crowd.
- bitsavers 4y agoThey made it addictive. Bury your nose in your portable device. Ignore the world around you. Lock users in. Push everything onto their servers. Lock out anything that might compete with the path to the Apple Store. It was brilliant from a business perspective, prototyped with the iPod.
- bitsavers 4y agohttps://www.apple.com/newsroom/2023/01/apple-celebrates-a-groundbreaking-year-in-entertainment/ https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2023/01/apple-celebrates-a-gr... Disney is now realizing how they blew it when they let Jobs' nose under the tent.
- celtoid 4y ago"It's immoral to let a sucker keep his money." -Canada Bill Jones https://www.pokernews.com/news/2016/08/poker-pop-culture-015-immoral-to-let-a-sucker-keep-his-money-25520.htm https://www.pokernews.com/news/2016/08/poker-pop-culture-015...
- josefresco 4y agoI had an 11 that I was perfectly happy with but Verizon/Apple basically offered me a "free" 14 so I bit. It ended up costing me ~$100 if you account for the upgrade fee ($35), and the tax (~75) but overall a much lower price than retail. These sort of offers usually correspond to the current financial needs of Verizon/Apple. Thankfully my kids are just aging out of the "we must have the newest iPhone immediately" phase.
- prirun 4y agoBut these are not truly free right, because they also force you into a contract extension. I think the trick is, with a family plan, you get a new phone once a year or whatever, so if you take them up on that offer, they are constantly extending your service contract. And of course, you are paying for the "free" phone with higher monthly costs. My PureTalk USA phone plan (AT&T reseller) is $22/mo including all taxes and fees for unlimited talk/text and 2GB fast data, throttled after that. I just checked, and Verizon for 1 line, unlimited, is $65/mo + taxes & fees, so probably $70/mo. That extra $50/mo is $600/year. I bought my refurb iPhone XR on eBay a couple of years ago for $500, indistinguishable from new, and will keep it until it dies.
- josefresco 4y ago"force you into a contract extension" I'm not going anywhere so really it's no difference to me. Continue service with my old phone, or continue service with a new phone. All phones have a two year interest fee payment plan now - smartphones are a service.
- Someone 4y agoTwo years ago, Apple claimed there were over a billion active iPhones out there (https://www.theverge.com/2021/1/27/22253162/iphone-users-total-number-billion-apple-tim-cook-q1-2021 https://www.theverge.com/2021/1/27/22253162/iphone-users-tot...). Ballpark, that probably still is true. If people buy a replacement every four years, they’ll sell about 240 million a year. That doesn’t require them to attract millions of new users each year. Now, why do users buy replacements? They may lose them, the devices may break down, Apple and/or app makers may stop supporting them, and new ones are significantly better (even if all updates are, as you claim, small, they still accumulate into big ones over the years)