Apple iPhone sales fall in nearly all countries

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c99zxzjqw2ko

by testrun • 2 years ago

22 49 2 years ago

At some point isn't it natural for people to just hold on to the phones they already have ?

I probably average a new phone ever 18 months or so, but I'm a tech enthusiast. No normal person needs a new phone that often. At a point you saturate your market.

rcoilliot• 2 years ago

I’m also a tech enthusiast but I change my iPhone every 4 or 5 years. And it may be the issue here, there’s not that much incentive to switch from an iPhone to the next one except if you are an Apple fan boy, thanks to the awesome upgrades support. Hope they won’t “fix” it.

pojzon2• 2 years ago

If Apple didnt artifically „break” phones with software downgrades - that phone with replaced battery could work perfectly fine for 10+ years.

To tackle climate issues we have to enforce an improvement to quality of produced goods.

Remember those old German cars that were easy to maintain and could do 1 000 000 miles without major maintenances?

Capitalism and consumption enforced on ppl (greed) destroys this world.

supernovae• 2 years ago

There is also a diminished value of mobile phones today vs yesteryear.

* Twitter is dead for all intents and purposes * Lots of mobile apps are dead/dying and people aren't using them in the same way they used to out of privacy or concerns - such as checking in where you eat or tracking your exercise/fitness. (Nike really screwed the pooch here) and see twitter dead * New phones just push performance which isn't really needed when people merely surf the web or click a few apps while they take a crap

I'd say a lot of the mobile apps are dead/dying because they gave up on the app store paradigm and went subscription. Take myfitnesspal for example - where its 80 bucks a year to subscribe to use USER GENERATED CONTENT and it isn't shareable because its not an app purchase, but rather a sub. So many apps did this now that the family share is useless..

and lets not forget phones are getting expensive in plans rather than more affordable.. remember the days of cable? that's what carriers like verizon are doing where its hard to avoid disney, hulu or game subs or other crap when you just want a cell phone plan

codedokode• 2 years ago

Telegram is growing though.

lostemptations5• 2 years ago

None of this is really true globally where the main sales falls are indicated. Particularly in Asia there is a huge growth in apps still from ride hailing to social media (TikTok is still allowed there, btw), and data plans are cheap and ubiqutous. Unlimited data can be had for just $30 a month in many countries. Even $10 in some.

What is true-- outside of the US -- is an extraordinary galaxy of Android phones available for every price point from cheap $80 (and quite capable RedMis) to $2000 Samsungs. All with dual SIMs and 1 TB capable SD Card slots.

Maybe people just don't want to pay for expensive and limited hardware (expansion wise), especially where their monthly salary maybe just $500 USD.

kotaKat• 2 years ago

Longer device payment agreements combined with promotional credits designed to trap customers into a single phone also don’t help when yearly releases come out.

Many people leaped up to the iPhone 14 and are now about 12-14 months in on a 36 month installment plan. Combined with the deep promotional credits offered that made the phones “nearly free” or “free” for many, we’re now stuck in a rock and a hard place.

I plan on buying out my phone after a few more billing cycles since Verizon is crediting close to $22/mo of the phone and I’m only in it for $5.

9999000009994• 2 years ago

I haven't financed a phone for years.

I buy my phones cash and pay about 30$ for unlimited data on Mint.

Zambyte• 2 years ago

I'm also enthusiastic about technology. That's one of the main reasons I've been running the same phone for 6 years, and ideally it is my last smartphone.

karmakaze• 2 years ago

I wouldn't expect upgrade cycles to be synchronized in nearly all countries.

nothercastle• 2 years ago

My wife still uses an iPhone 11 the upgrade cycle has really spread out to longer intervals. Also also the median American is simply poorer

jkestner• 2 years ago

I bought an iPhone 11 on Swappa last year to replace my 8 with a wonky camera. A lot of this is just maturation of the market. The growth in recent years came from the general population who just wanted functionality, and that itch is scratched while the other things in life take up more of our budgets lately.

avgDev2• 2 years ago

I'm on 12, I will only upgrade when the phone fails, or Tmobile has a trade-in deal. I see no reason to get an new iPhone, more money in my investment accounts.

reducesuffering• 2 years ago

I still use an XS (from 2018) and it has no issues running everything.

mint2• 2 years ago

Depending on cause, this could be a good thing. If it’s simply because phones last longer that great.

packjack• 2 years ago

They could always last a bit longer, that is not why

alberth• 2 years ago

I wonder if the push for “Hardware-as-a-Service” (monthly financing) has any effect on declining new phone sales.

dangus2• 2 years ago

I’ve noticed that the major carriers do three year loan terms instead of two almost universally in the US.

a-priori2• 2 years ago

This should be expected in times of increased inflation: prices for goods are increasing faster than wages, so most people have less disposable income.

They'll respond by cutting back on or deferring unnecessary expenses (like upgrading an existing working phone), or choosing cheaper goods (like replacing a broken phone with a cheaper one), especially if as the article says there's not much in the way of compelling new features to drive an upgrade cycle.

rchaud2• 2 years ago

It isn't just that. The average person these days cannot distinguish a quality difference between the iPhone 13 and 15. The iPhone camera has been the jewel in Apple's crown but it's reached a stage of "more than good enough" some time ago, so what real reason is there to upgrade?

a-priori2• 2 years ago

As I said:

especially if as the article says there's not much in the way of compelling new features to drive an upgrade cycle

JumpCrisscross2• 2 years ago

prices for goods are increasing faster than wages, so most people have less disposable income

Real wages are flat with Q4 2019, but higher than almost any other time in the iPhone’s existence [1]. Disposable income is also near all-time highs [2].

[1] https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LES1252881600Q

[2] https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/DSPI

autoexec2• 2 years ago

You know what else is at all time highs? Homelessness and household debt

rchaud2• 2 years ago

Helps explain why Apple has focused so much energy on fighting the DMA in Europe. Fewer iPhones sold means less H/W + App Store revenue. Alternative app stores on top of that could mean very bad news for advertising revenue on the main app store.

arresin• 2 years ago

I am holding out for another mini

ljsprague• 2 years ago

The best part of getting a new phone is the new battery.

testfrequency• 2 years ago

Every year I miss the iPhone 4 more and more.

That phone was so easily fixed and well designed to replace parts.

I think I’d cry a little inside if Apple made a modern iPhone 4 again

tapoxi• 2 years ago

After buying a Framework laptop and realizing it even comes with the only tool you'd ever need to upgrade or repair it, I would absolutely buy a Framework phone without question.

Just give me stock Android and midrange performance. If I can easily replace the screen and battery and upgrade the mainboard in a few years, I'll be totally happy.

dangus2• 2 years ago

The iPhone 14 (and I assume 15) does have lower repair pricing and a more repair friendly design than its predecessor.

https://www.pcmag.com/news/ifixit-apples-iphone-14-is-its-mo...

sschueller• 2 years ago

That is terrible because a new battery could be installed on an existing phone but Apple and others make it so hard and costly that many just get a new phone.

I miss the old days were I could just buy a battery and dump it in my phone. Those devices were not water tight but neither is my current smart phone.

A laptop has zero excuse for not having a removable battery.

mikestew• 2 years ago

They can pry my iPhone Mini from my cold, dead hands.

I mean, what reason do I have to upgrade, even if I wanted a phone the size of a skateboard? Better camera? Eh...I'm trying really hard make that a reason to layout $800, but I'm failing. Faster chip? My phone isn't slow the way it is now. I don't do iOS work anymore, so there goes that excuse for an upgrade. And let's face it: the novelty of smartphones has worn off. The iPhone was released seventeen years ago. It's not awesome new tech, it's the appliance that I carry around so that $PEOPLE_IMPORTANT_TO_ME can get hold of me, and I can check the weather. I'm otherwise about as excited about a new one as I am about a new washer. (Well, probably less excited, because our new washer/dryer all-in-one is awesome.)

A top-level comment says battery. When Apple will no longer plop a new battery in my Mini for $80, I guess that's when I'll upgrade. Or Apple could, you know, make another Mini.

beretguy• 2 years ago

Just buy batteries from ifixit. Replace iPhone battery yourself isn’t hard.

4rt• 2 years ago

I've been looking for android phones to replace my 12 mini.

I'm not interested in carrying around a huge phone, even if it means a few weeks of getting used to android again.

I was secretly hoping they might announce minis on every alternate model, or release an SE that was smaller but it doesn't seem so.

methuselah_in• 2 years ago

Let the be Android and custom roms

andrewmcwatters• 2 years ago

Maybe this will force Apple to be innovative. Or maybe they'll just increase service pricing and gradually cut features and material costs in an attempt to keep both margins and revenue high. My bet with Tim Cook is unfortunately the latter.

b2bsaas00• 2 years ago

The new iPhone will have a chatGPT-style native app

summerlight• 2 years ago

Growth at this scale is irrational expectation. They already have taken over almost 80~90% of the high margin smartphone market which is already saturated a few years ago. This is why Apple is taking so passive-aggressive stance on antitrust regulations as well as expanding into the ads business; there's simply not enough room for growth in the hardware segment while many investors are still expecting 5~10% perpetual annual growth.

Apple iPhone sales fall in nearly all countries

Related Stories