People can't afford that shit when groceries and fuel prices are inflated this high. And new phones have tiny incremental changes that nobody gives AF about.
this post was submitted on 03 May 2024
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My friend, who has a lot of debt just bought the $1200 15 pro and I was like wtf man you're broke. I guess it proves that even if apple makes a nonsense item, people will still buy it.
I mean how many people don't have a smartphone by now? Do they expect to sell more and more every year?
That's capitalism, baby!
They've put all their eggs into the "let's hope people upgrade their perfectly working phone every year" basket and that basket is getting smaller.
Ironically, if they made another smaller phone like the mini, I’d be more inclined to upgrade.
You and one other person probably because the mini was consistently the worst selling iPhone model
I know and it’s a bummer. It’s basically the same size as the 4, aside from the antenna stuff was my favorite form factor. Guess I’m in the minority who doesn’t need a change for something that works
Yes, that's why they have planned obsolescence
Haven't iPhones had service lives far past most other phones? The used market for iPhones is huge compared to Android.
Agree. Lemmy loves to trash on Apple, but this is actually something it’s hard to criticize them over. Especially compared with any other consumer electronics manufacturers.
Yep. I used to upgrade my iPhone every year just because smartphones were moving fast in the 2010-2020 era. Now, I’m on a three year cycle and barely even notice.
I’ve resold every iPhone I’ve ever owned for 50% of the value or more, and I manage a fleet of iPhones for my job and we still have 5Ses in the wild for people. Apple still provides critical security updates for those devices and we’re at 11 years for those devices. Most people have 7 year old iPhone X era devices and I get almost no complaints or dead devices.
iPhones have ridiculous longevity and hold resale value better than any other device.
I think the answer to this is both yes and no:
Yes, iphones have good build quality and especially in regards to software updates have been great, keeping even older models up to date. Whereas only recently some android manufacturers changed their update policies to support models for longer.
And No, because apple consistently has made it difficult and costly to repair phones, e.g. by pairing all kinds of parts to each other through software.
Yeah it's like what happened to toasters, refrigerators, and home computers. Nobody gives AF anymore.
I was rocking an iPhone 6. Yes, a 6. My wife had an xs max - two weeks ago she dropped it and it smashed. We went and bought a pair of iPhone 15 pro max phones, fully loaded.
- they are ridiculously expensive - over 2k a piece. Most people can’t afford that. What happened to sub $1000 phones?
- yes there’s a lot of improvements over the 6. But the 6 still functioned perfectly - albeit a bit slowly
- the only improvement I can tell as a user over the xs max is the cameras. They are arguably better. Otherwise it’s the same phone.
- the software is nearly identical on all three versions. There’s not many “ooo this one does xyz like this, and that’s an improvement”
Bottom line: there just isn’t a reason to upgrade a phone anymore, unless they break. Sales HAS to go down if the price point stays the same or goes up.
What happened to sub $1000 phones?
Brother you are the one who bought the most expensive phone on the market. You realize that you're reinforcing the market you don't like, right? Your purchase sends a message to Apple that "Yes, we want crazy expensive phones because people keep buying them"
I get that, I do. I wanted the phone I wanted, bent over, and let Apple give it to me with no lube.
But in my defense-I did go an entire decade not buying a phone. ;)
There's no need for a defense, buy what you want. However, there are lots of sub-1000 phones that are very good.
What happened to sub $1000 phones?
They still exist, just don't buy the "Pro Max" model. The iPhone 15 is $800 and the 15 Plus is $900
What happened to sub $1000 phones?
They exist. Even iPhones. You just didn't buy one... wtf?
But where did the $2k phones for sub $1000 go? They're all like twice as expensive.
Why didn't you buy an iPhone SE? I have the 2022 model and it started at $429. I upgraded from an iPhone 6S.
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My iphone still has Touch ID 🥰
Was the 6 the one with 3D Touch? If so, you actually lost a feature.
$1000? I have a hard cap at $600 on principle. Just get a phone one generation old and it's easy.
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According to the report, the sales decline came from all across Asia. Net sales were down in Greater China (PRC, Taiwan & Hong Kong), Japan, and the Rest of Asia Pacific, while the Americas and Europe saw an insignificant change that can be rounded up to 0%.
This makes sense. Apple has its status as "the one and only smartphone" in the US, but in other countries buying a phone that costs a tiny fraction as much is probably a bigger draw and has less social stigma.
If you look at the numbers, a LOT of this is China. Sales the western nation are pretty much flat year over year.
Apple sales are down YoY in China, and Huawei are way way up. A lot of these American devices now have their differentiating features stuck behind the great firewall, are outright banned if you work certain jobs, and are subject to a lot of propogada that is promoting national alternatives.
I’ve just bought an old iPhone 13 Mini (after owning a 12 Mini for several years), because I hate big phones.
I’ve had the 13 mini for a couple years for the same reason, I’d like a newer one with upgraded chips/battery but it looks like I’ll just keep this one till it dies. It’s basically the same size as the 4 and aside from the antenna thing that was the best fo factor IMO
I got a 13 Pro Max originally (because I liked big phones when I was using Android), and the weight and sharp edges just made it hurt my hand like hell. Got a 13 Pro instead, and I've been kind of wishing they kept the "Mini" lineup going the more I use it...
Crazy, I would have expected this when the iPhone 14 came out because that one was such a niche upgrade compared to the 15.
The main reason sales fell this year compared to the year-ago quarter is because the quarter before that Apple wasn't able to keep up with iPhone 14 demand leading to shortages and depleted channel inventory. The following quarter they were able to meet demand and replenish the sales channel leading a boosted year-ago quarter that was $5 billion bigger than it really should have been. Apple didn't have the same production shortages for the 15 launch. It makes this quarter they just reported look like a big decline but that's not really the whole story.
Good.
The sales always dip at this stage. Most people buy their phones from release till Christmas, then sales slow down until fall again.
Every year.
It fell more than Q1 2022. They’re comparing the same Quarter.
The reason this is news is because this is a year over year dip. Sales usually slow now, but they're down more than normal.
It's also notable because China has been trying to squeeze American tech products out of certain industries, and we're now seeing American brands get replaced by massive growth with Chinese technology brands.
Everyone has one already.
That's not what the sales numbers show. People are still replacing their phones for new ones, but in China they're buying Chinese brands, not American brands. Huawei sales are WAY up and is eating into Apple's market.
The US and China have been battling back and forth over trade, espionage, political influence in Asia, etc. China has been trying to elbow out American brands in the country, and the US has been doing the same.
Yep. I had an XR. I kept it until the battery started dying. Now I have a 13, which I got refurbished when the 15 came out so it was not all that expensive. I'll keep that until the battery starts dying and do it again.
And really, the only reason I'm sticking with it at this point is that I'd probably have to spend several hundred dollars to replace all the paid apps and games I have. If there were some way I could just transfer all of them to an Android, I'd probably get one.
Services reached its highest result ever, with a 14% increase over the same period last year.
Apple still manages to make people spend more money on their phones even when they aren't buying new ones.
In Taiwan, I don't need your stupid iPhone to use my Line app, which is what everyone uses. I can pay my taxes, my parking fees, my coffee, and so much more. Plus, iPhones are all sorta the same. Why spend the extra money for the same thing?
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