Two years ago, Apple pushed the price of its mobile phones to a thousand bucks with the iPhone X. In September, it made the case for its pricier phones by adding a wide-angle camera, night mode and better battery life. Apple even gave us the slow-motion selfie, which it calls a slofie. Apple likes the gimmick so much it’s trying to trademark the term.
We’ll soon get an idea of whether the new bells and whistles are luring buyers who might otherwise be put off by prices so high you could buy a laptop for the same amount. On Wednesday, Apple reports fiscal fourth-quarter earnings, the first since its new $699 iPhone 11, $999 iPhone 11 Pro and $1,099 iPhone 11 Pro Max went on sale on Sept. 20.
The iPhone is Apple’s biggest moneymaker and represents half of its sales. It represents about 10% of global smartphone shipments, making Apple the third-largest phone manufacturer behind Korean rival Samsung and Chinese giant Huawei. Apple’s upgrade program, which encourages people to buy new phones under a monthly payment plan, has helped it maintain an edge on rivals, leading analysts at IDC to say that Apple arguably still has a dominant position in the market.
Still, there are reasons to be concerned that Apple’s high-priced phones might be stalling. Apple’s market share has fallen nearly 2 percentage points in the past year, according to industry watcher IDC. That might seem worrying, particularly because the entire market is shrinking as well.
Cowen Equity Research analyst Krish Sankar said Apple’s production of iPhones will likely reflect that trend, falling to 47 million iPhones in the three months ended Sept. 30. That’s 2% fewer iPhones than the same time last year, though Shankar still says the iPhone 11 has likely gotten a “strong” reception… Continue Reading
