iPhone X

[Davita]

On TV news last night there was a mad dash in Australia to get the new iPhone 10...at about 1200 euros a pop.

My wife must have seen it 'coz she woke-up early and said she dreamed I had just bought her an iPhone 10.
I was about to say "Dream-On!" when I had this brilliant idea. I remembered she still had a working iPhone 4 and her current iPhone 6 so suggested she should strap them back-to-back with an elastic band. That way she can tell all her friends her darling got her an iPhone 10 already.

That was over an hour ago and I'm still waiting for that cup of tea I was promised....

 

[Anglian]

On TV news last night there was a mad dash in Australia to get the new iPhone 10...at about 1200 euros a pop.

My wife must have seen it 'coz she woke-up early and said she dreamed I had just bought her an iPhone 10.
I was about to say "Dream-On!" when I had this brilliant idea. I remembered she still had a working iPhone 4 and her current iPhone 6 so suggested she should strap them back-to-back with an elastic band. That way she can tell all her friends her darling got her an iPhone 10 already.

That was over an hour ago and I'm still waiting for that cup of tea I was promised....

I think domestic bliss will be restored by the purchase of a nice shinny new iPhone X

 

[scouser59]

Its crazy all this hullabaloo over a phone , for me the only reason to have a so called smart phone is Waze the direction finder , bloody amazing ! I have gps in the car absolutely useless , lights up and consumes electricity only .

 

[Davita]

I think smartphones can be useful but I cannot understand why Apple charge so much when equally useful phones can be bought for less than half the price.

My search was best described..."Because they (Apple) can (get away with a higher price)…“Anybody would if they could,” writes Horace Dediu on his Asmyco blog. “That’s a poor question. So the right question should be: why does anybody pay this much?”

It appears it's the branding and image of ownership...what a crock! If someone boasts they paid around US$1300 for a phone I'd think them crazy.
I read some of the interior mechanisms are the same as in other phones.
It was the same when quartz watches were first introduced...the interior workings were nearly all the same. I just had my (US$100) 20 year old watch repaired by changing the standard quartz-motor.... which was not even manufactured by the watch-maker.

 

[Nimbus]

Apple is slowly but surely pursuing a luxury brand strategy. Their products have always been classified as premium, now they are pushing the envelope, in the hope of becoming the Rolls Royce of smartphones.

Apple expects that value-conscious customers will drop, but they will be replaced by luxury goods buyers. It has the distinction as the most expensive mainstream smartphone today.

 

[Anglian]

When I first came to Jakarta the phone to have was an Erickson, people would about with them clutched in their left hand as though it was leading them somewhere, then came the BlackBerry if you didn’t have a Blackberry you just weren’t with it now I suppose it’s The latest Apple, Davita is right, I think I don’t think they are worth queuing up for especially if you already have a iPhone which does the same thing, they don’t do anything extra, now if they made your tea or coffee might be worth it, walking round the mobile phone stores you see phone much cheaper which serve the same function,

 

[waarmstrong]

The Ten is a catch up edition. Most of its "new" features are already offered by other manufacturers. Apple is certainly not under estimating the gullibility of consumers. The choice is yours: tattoo "idiot" on your forehead or display your newly purchased Iphone X.

 

[R Cameron]

Apple is slowly but surely pursuing a luxury brand strategy. Their products have always been classified as premium, now they are pushing the envelope, in the hope of becoming the Rolls Royce of smartphones.

Apple expects that value-conscious customers will drop, but they will be replaced by luxury goods buyers. It has the distinction as the most expensive mainstream smartphone today.

I disagree, they are pursuing high margin sales and do very few (none?) loss-leaders, a mark of a premium brand, but they are certainly not going for the exclusive nature of a luxury brand like Rolls Royce. They are aiming to be ubiquitous throughout pop-culture and everyday life such that people see white things hanging in your ears and know they are Apple Airpods. Rolls Royce is only aiming to be known in those exclusive circles.

They still feature prominently in their stores phones from 2 years ago (6s and SE) selling for 1/3 the price of the new iPhone X. They want to capture a huge market, but only where the margins are high.

Perhaps BMW is a closer comparison. They have their 7-series sedans that mostly top 100,000 USD, but they also have 3-series that start at about 30,000 USD. They are ubiquitously known, and there's still a certain prestige that comes from saying "I own a BMW" even if it's the 3-series.

 

[Nimbus]

I disagree, they are pursuing high margin sales and do very few (none?) loss-leaders, a mark of a premium brand, but they are certainly not going for the exclusive nature of a luxury brand like Rolls Royce. They are aiming to be ubiquitous throughout pop-culture and everyday life such that people see white things hanging in your ears and know they are Apple Airpods. Rolls Royce is only aiming to be known in those exclusive circles.

They still feature prominently in their stores phones from 2 years ago (6s and SE) selling for 1/3 the price of the new iPhone X. They want to capture a huge market, but only where the margins are high.

Perhaps BMW is a closer comparison. They have their 7-series sedans that mostly top 100,000 USD, but they also have 3-series that start at about 30,000 USD. They are ubiquitously known, and there's still a certain prestige that comes from saying "I own a BMW" even if it's the 3-series.

I agree that at the moment they are definitely a BMW, but they want to be RR someday. Look at their high end watches, $1300 for something worn for two years?

 

[Anglian]

I agree that at the moment they are definitely a BMW, but they want to be RR someday. Look at their high end watches, $1300 for something worn for two years?

Apple stuff seems to have a built in limited life

 

[Nimbus]

Apple stuff seems to have a built in limited life

It's not unique to Apple though, it applies to pretty much all consumer electronics today. To be fair, the iPhones are probably the longest lasting smartphones out there, because 5-6 year old models still work smoothly. The same can't be said for most Android phones.

 

[Anglian]

It's not unique to Apple though, it applies to pretty much all consumer electronics today. To be fair, the iPhones are probably the longest lasting smartphones out there, because 5-6 year old models still work smoothly. The same can't be said for most Android phones.

Yes you are correct, but I think paying a$1000 I would sort of hope it would last a while, my Omega is still going after 30 years

 

[R Cameron]

I agree that at the moment they are definitely a BMW, but they want to be RR someday. Look at their high end watches, $1300 for something worn for two years?

Maybe your perception of Rolls Royce is very different than mine. Rare (low production), hand-made, obscenely expensive, extremely rare to see one "in the wild", not typically used for day-to-day tasks, etc.

That is most definitely not Apple's goal as they would make way less money trying to embody those things than their current direction of being the BMW equivalent.

 

[Daniel50]

I have chosen anything but Apple and I never used to drink Starbuck's coffee. I tried to drink at local coffee shops in Indonesia but I found Starbucks had better coffee and better prices then some of the coffee shops. So I would sometimes get Starbuck's coffee. I don't like buying into a brand to feel good or sometimes superior. I don't think products should be given that much status.

 

[Nimbus]

Maybe your perception of Rolls Royce is very different than mine. Rare (low production), hand-made, obscenely expensive, extremely rare to see one "in the wild", not typically used for day-to-day tasks, etc.

That is most definitely not Apple's goal as they would make way less money trying to embody those things than their current direction of being the BMW equivalent.

You are right. I'm just trying to emphasize that Apple is more concerned about user experience and exclusiveness than about top performance and cutting edge features. The latest Android phones are typically superior in almost every respect, and cheaper to boot. The iPhone X is priced way up there, yet I can't figure out how the extra features justify that dollar amount. The only justification is that it's the latest and greatest iPhone, and people will buy it for that reason alone.

 

[R Cameron]

You are right. I'm just trying to emphasize that Apple is more concerned about user experience and exclusiveness than about top performance and cutting edge features. The latest Android phones are typically superior in almost every respect, and cheaper to boot. The iPhone X is priced way up there, yet I can't figure out how the extra features justify that dollar amount. The only justification is that it's the latest and greatest iPhone, and people will buy it for that reason alone.

The Samsung Note 8 launched a few weeks ago at $930, not so far off of the new iPhone for $999. Both are way more than I would pay for a new phone, but clearly there is a strong demand, and Apple is not the only one going after it.

I'm happy as long as they keep making some great phones for $6-700 that I can get a year later for $400!

 

[Nimbus]

Yes you are correct, but I think paying a$1000 I would sort of hope it would last a while, my Omega is still going after 30 years

Yeah, I know what you mean. Electronics these days are treated as consumables. Physically they can last decades, but functionally most manufacturers stop caring for them after about 3 years.

Here's the thing: if I fire up my 9 year old iPhone 3G, it will still work. However, a smartphone is defined primarily by the scope of its features rather than its durability. I don't use it anymore because I got spoiled by the latest superior features. I think it still works as well as it was in 2008, it's me who can no longer live with 2008 phone technology.

A mechanical watch does only one thing (or two), that is to tell time. People expect it to do just that one thing well, so the emphasis falls on durability and build quality. It's perfectly fine to wear a 2 decade old watch, because today people still expect it to only tell time. As a matter of fact I'm wearing a Tag Heuer my parents bought me in 1991. Yes, it's an overpriced quartz watch, but it's not garbage.

 

[Nimbus]

The Samsung Note 8 launched a few weeks ago at $930, not so far off of the new iPhone for $999. Both are way more than I would pay for a new phone, but clearly there is a strong demand, and Apple is not the only one going after it.

I'm happy as long as they keep making some great phones for $6-700 that I can get a year later for $400!

But the Note 8 is considerably bigger, as well as having a better screen. People are also complaining about its price.


I really think that iPhone X is rushed to market, due to mild reception of iPhone 7. The iPhone 8 was supposed to be the 7S, and the X was supposed to be 8. Following this conventional setup, the X wasn't supposed to be ready until next year, which explains the less than smooth presentation and release delay. The X was supposed to have a fingerprint sensor in the back, but the time constraint makes it impossible. I bet the Xs (or XI) next year will have a fingerprint sensor back there.

All this gouging is repugnant. I typically get a new iPhone every year, because I pass on the older ones to family and relatives. I think I'm gonna skip the X.

 

[scouser59]

Honestly I find smart phones too small for my "pudgy fingers" to type I always use a laptop , and as a phone they are not very good at receiving a signal , all glass fronted phones suffer this problem , hence I use a 280k nokia , brilliant reception of course long battery life . Ya some people wanna show off their wealth especially in asia , I remember in Hong kong all the rich with their gold rolexs , way too big for their wrist , but they still bought them.

 

[Davita]

I remember in Hong kong all the rich with their gold rolexs , way too big for their wrist , but they still bought them.

Used to have a lot of fun with those guys.
Side up in a bar and say "Nice watch..." and, while they preened their sleeve back to display more, continue with "...best fake I've ever seen!!"