Apple defied expectations and froze the price of the iPhone 15 series. It is interpreted as a strategy to increase market share in a situation where negative news from China is occurring amidst a recession in the global smartphone market.
Apple unveiled four models of the iPhone 15 series (Basic, Plus, Pro, and Pro Max) at its headquarters in Cupertino, California, USA on the 12th (local time).
What stands out the most is the price. Until now, the prevailing view was that Apple would increase the factory price of the iPhone 15 series by at least $100 compared to last year, taking into account rising prices. However, Apple released a new product at the same price as the previous product.
The basic model starts at $799 (128GB), Plus at $899 (128GB), Pro at $999 (128GB), and Pro Max at $1,199 (256GB).
Korean shipping prices were also frozen. The basic model starts at 1.25 million won, the Plus starts at 1.35 million won, and the Pro starts at 1.55 million won.
In the case of Pro Max, the price starts from 1.9 million won. This is a 150,000 won increase compared to the iPhone 14 Pro Max (1.75 million won), but the price itself did not increase. By not releasing the 128GB model, which was the lowest capacity, they effectively attempted to increase prices by eliminating the product most sought after by consumers. The industry’s view is that the decision안전놀이터 to freeze the price despite significant changes such as the installation of the latest chip ‘A17
Bionic’ in the Pro lineup and the application of titanium material is a battle to defend market share.
The analysis is that the price burden was minimized to maintain sales volume in a situation where global smartphone sales are decreasing.
Chinese company Huawei, which was unable to release a new smartphone due to US sanctions, has returned, and the Chinese government’s movement to restrict iPhone purchases is spreading.
Market research firm Counterpoint Research believes that global smartphone shipments this year could hit the lowest level in 10 years since 2014.
Counterpoint Research said in a report last month, “Smartphone shipments this year are expected to decrease by 6% compared to the previous year, reaching 1.15 billion units,” and added, “Smartphone sales in China, which used to reach 450 million units per year, recently decreased to 270 million units, and in the U.S. ·Smartphone sales in Canada this year will decline by more than 10% compared to last year.” Despite the launch of new products, Apple’s stock price closed the day down 1.71%.
Samsung Electronics, which competes with Apple in the premium smartphone market, is also nervous. ‘Price competitiveness’ is considered an incentive to attract already highly loyal iPhone users.
There was an atmosphere that they would switch to Samsung Electronics if Apple raised prices unreasonably even though there were no real innovative changes, but that opportunity has disappeared. Samsung Electronics raised the prices of two new foldable phones released in July by 50,000 to 100,000 won.
Leave a Reply