MarketWatch photo illustration/Getty Images, Apple Tim Cook, chief executive officer of Apple, unveils the new, very expensive iPhones on Wednesday.
The prices of Apple’s AAPL, -1.14% iPhones have been in motion since the next generation of models were announced Wednesday afternoon.
To cut to the chase: It’s never been so cheap to buy a new iPhone — or so expensive. And economics and previous price changes by Apple suggests the new products are likely to push down the prices of older models, including last year’s flagship iPhone X, still further.
Let’s start at the top: The new iPhone XS Max, which will be available next week, tops out at an eye-watering $1,449 plus tax. That’s for the most expensive version, with 512 gigabytes of memory. The landmark new phone sports a 6.5-inch screen.
To put that in context, this is more than the entry-level price for an Apple laptop. The 12-inch MacBook computer starts at $1,249. Not long ago, mobile phones cost a fraction of the price of a laptop.
The 12-inch MacBook computer starts at $1,249. Not long ago, mobile phones cost a fraction of the price of a laptop.
But last year’s iPhone X, which sold for $999 and upwards, has apparently succeeded in raising the bar for what people are willing to pay for a phone. While the X has the more advanced OLED screen, the XR is an upgrade in almost every other way, and sports a significantly bigger screen as well. Logic would suggest that prices for the X will fall, especially through third party sellers, to compete.
Critics at the time claimed the $999 iPhone X would be a flop — “Morning Joe” Scarborough compared it to “New Coke,” one of the biggest flops in modern corporate history — but sales have instead proved robust.
But this time last year, MarketWatch predicted bumper sales for the iPhone X. “This is Apple’s bold move into the luxury, or even super-luxury, market. And that market is huge, and booming, and ridiculously lucrative … I can’t imagine spending $3,000, let alone $8,300, on a watch. But people do. And those people will think nothing of spending $1,000 on a new iPhone. You could argue Apple could be setting the price too low.”
Despite the critics, Apple’s supersized and super-expensive iPhones helped make up for a miss on unit sales in the fiscal third quarter, which beat most analysts’ expectations.
But while the new iPhone XS Max is expensive, prices for other iPhones have just dropped. And if you’re looking for a good deal, logic and economics say may more be on their way.
The iPhone X was absent from Apple’s site, but a salesman at a flagship New York store confirmed it’s still for sale.
Last year’s flagship, the iPhone X, was briefly absent from the company’s website Wednesday, but at Apple’s flagship New York store the salesman confirmed it was still for sale and the price had been reduced by $100. So the entry-level model, with 64GB of memory, is now $899. Prices have also been cut for the iPhone 8, 8 Plus, 7 and 7 Plus as well.
At the cheapest end, a “certified refurbished” iPhone 7 from Apple now starts at $379. Despite their name, “refurbished” products come direct from the company, with exactly the same warranty and support as new models.
The iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, which were unveiled last year, are down to $599 and $699 each for the basic models with 64GB of memory. There is no word currently on whether the smaller SE, with a 4-inch screen, is still for sale. It was last being sold for $349 and upwards.
The launch of new iPhones is likely to put downward pressure on other iPhone prices. The new iPhone XR will sell for $749 and upwards when it is available next month. That makes it hard to see how last year’s iPhone X will continue to sell for $899.
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