Price history of Apple's iPhones: how did we get to €1,600?

04 November 2018
Early on, Apple hid the true cost behind carrier subsidies. Even now that that's over, it's not shy about raising the prices.

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I did realize something weird.... the prices in the US and all the world has increased... However where I lived it remained generally the same...
so I SUSPECT that to generate the same revenue the prices had to go up as the inflation gone down.
I remember all prices from 2007 till today in regards to iPhones.
2007 iPhone 2G: 3750 ILS
2008 iPhone 3G: 3800
2009 iPhone 3GS: 3750
2010 iPhone 4: 3700
2011 iPhone 4S: 3700
2012 iPhone 5: 3750
2013 iPhone 5S: 3700/ 5C: 3000
2014 iPhone 6: 3700/ 6Plus: 4300
2015 iPhone 6S: 3800/ 6SPlus: 4350/SE: 2750
2016 iPhone 7: 3750/ 7Plus: 4300
2017 iPhone 8: 3750/ 8Plus: 4300/X: 4850
2018 (Current): iPhone Xs: 4850/XsMax: 5250/Xr: 3750
all prices are for the CHEAPEST variants and price on launch in Israel. compare that to the prices in the US and think for yourselves. :P

    Vegetaholic, 04 Nov 2018Apple is as any good religious cult in a manipulations, wil... moreWow. You articulated that so well. Buying over priced and overhyped devices helps poor people, and the middle class believe thay they have 'arrived'. They probably cannot afford a (new) car or a house, so they think a phone will help them feel better. It's like retail therapy, but with a reckless and imaginary angle, borderline psychosis angle. And buying anything on a loan should be banned, especially for people with bad loan records. I am guessing the majority of iPhone users don't have their own houses or live in tiny homes.

    It's many times worse thay that whole Bhagwan Rajneesh thing on Netflix where that crazy woman Mata Asha (or whatever her name was) drew supporters of Osho to have a run in with various law agencies and everyone suffered the consequences in shocking ways. iPhone users have curious reactions to people online who point out certain essential missing features or camera and other comparisons. Or the kilometre long lines before the release of each new iPhone.

    It's like Kingmen film where people have bone completely berserk.

      Anonymous, 04 Nov 2018"How did we get to 1600?" Competitors stopped competin... morenot exactly buy. the make the prints of their SoCs.

        Apple ate now a service business, they only need to sell enough devices to keep the service business going, they could easily give phones away and they would still be the most profitable phone maker..But, and its a big but, outside America, apple is already in decline, that's going to accelerate, they will end up as an American only business, their service side will contract more slowly, but will end up the same..
        Apple, the art of selling last years hardware to those who should know better, at vast profit..

          • ?
          • Anonymous
          • 043
          • 04 Nov 2018

          Arvind7955, 04 Nov 2018Apple is the worst brand. No.

          And what you gonna say now?

            • ?
            • Anonymous
            • 043
            • 04 Nov 2018

            When I compared prices for used on eBay, I decided to go with the following: always buying a three-year old iPhone used. The 6s right now is available for just over € 100, the 7 is double of the 6s, the 8 is Double of the 7, and the X is another step up. It‘s a bit like with cars where they loose most of their value in the first three years. Okay most of the phones value is lost in the First 2 years, but if I want to keep my old phone because of nostalgic and because I collect phones, 3 years is a sweet spot, which means in 2020, I will be buying the iPhone 8 as I have the 7 right now.
            For most people however, who sell their old phone, buying 2-years old is a great idea as you only have to pay € 100 every year to get a newer and better phone. 3 years would be even better because the cost is just about € 50, but I think many people consider a 6s as stone-age tech today.

              • H
              • Hg
              • UNy
              • 04 Nov 2018

              The price increase is almost like a feature in Iphones. If it goes cheaper some fans might not like it. However you spin it, many buy it for status symbol and Apple knows their target market.The price increase is also done to hide new Iphones short comings.
              The Hype machine that Apple has managed to handle is too much fun to watch. You have news reporters, reviewers and tech blogs praising it all too weirdly. I do like the new iphones but not at this price with so many important hardware missing.
              Its interesting and amazing to watch Apple sucessfully jack up their phone prices.

                • ?
                • Anonymous
                • Js{
                • 04 Nov 2018

                Anonymous, 04 Nov 2018Markets are moved by necessity. Apple is selling better ... moreTons of people in Africa, Southern Asia and South America have iPhone by the simple reason. They think it's fancy. It has nothing to do with CPU or iOS.

                This is why Apple still sells i6 in Asia, people just want to have an iPhone no matter which one. In my city the department stores still have even 5c for sale and people pay equivalent to $300.

                $750 for HD+ screen, less than 3000 mAh? Ridiculous

                  • ?
                  • Anonymous
                  • anY
                  • 04 Nov 2018

                  Apple is benefiting from the perception that their phones are easier to use, better supported through its retail presence, and with much longer feature upgrades and security patching of the operating system, added to its significant installed base among wealthy consumers who have invested in its ecosystem. Another positive is that Apple is not making money from harvesting it's users' data.

                  Much of this is a result of vertical integration, in the sense that Apple controls much of the hardware and software stack, and the fact that Apple releases only two or three phones a year, lowering the support costs per unit.

                  The speed of its SoC isn't that important, because it doesn't have that big an impact in terms of user experience. Apple is doing this because it didn't want to be beholden to Qualcomm, and because it can absorb a high silicon cost in terms of die area through the premium it charges for its phones, while the SoC design costs are spread over a high number of unit sales.

                  Apple probably sees SoC design as becoming part of a new business, as it has now reached a level where it has surpassed Intel in many applications.

                  The annual cost of ownership of an iPhone isn't any higher than many Android phones because of strong resale/trade-in values.

                  Having said all that, I think Apple should be concerned that high pricing of its newest models might cause its market share to fall to levels that would begin to undermine its revenues and growth prospects from the Apple store, music sales and so forth.

                  New entrants to the Android market such as Xiaomi and Huawei are transforming the value proposition of Android phones, and Google is finally beginning to address software maintenance to lower the support costs of Android.

                  These new suppliers have mostly been unable to get a foothold in the lucrative US market for a variety of reasons, but elsewhere they are growing extremely fast, including in Europe.

                    Hike the prices just to line investors pockets and to stay in the top 3 position because iphones aren't selling ad much.

                      They can afford that as services they offer, separately or in combination, are either original or without competitor, who can offer the same.
                      But its also about people who just cannot imagine life without such device(and services).
                      And I don't see indication that it will change anytime soon.

                        • N
                        • Nro
                        • pRB
                        • 04 Nov 2018

                        AnonD-800802, 04 Nov 2018Lol Samsung is nowhere near in the same league as Apple. It... moreApple stood @3 ... Huawai @2...and Samsung @1.... World wide smart phone market share.....and Android @ 80 and Apple around 18% share......but Apple is making more profit due to average selling price is the Apple mobile was around $745..... Where others average was around below $300....Apple products are fast due to new chips and less work to do ... Android chips should work like computers.... They do anything, you try...but Apple got very limited things to do productivity wise...Apple can't even play full video hiding the notch... Even Apple don't have call reject button, reboot,expandable memory, multi tasking...extra...extra....

                          Apple is as any good religious cult in a manipulations, will convince you every time slowly and steadly, that whatever you give it is not enough and you have to give more. Its been exercise for many years and improved over time. Apple made something special(iphone), created hype and uniqueness around and over exaggerated it, and reaping benefits of milking poor souls over years with their propaganda. Truth is, iphone is long just a peace metal block, which offer nothing new or special of any decent Android midranger or flagship which cost 3 times less. But for people, once already brainwshed, very hard to see reality and turn away from spelling propoganda Apple injects to you every year.

                            • ?
                            • Anonymous
                            • Js{
                            • 04 Nov 2018

                            How much cost an iPhone Xr 64Gb here?

                            - Same price note 9 128Gb was released
                            - 44% more than XZ2 was released
                            - 30% more than S9 was released
                            - 30% more than G7 was released
                            - 100% more than Zenfone 5Z was released

                              Anonymous, 04 Nov 2018"How did we get to 1600?" Competitors stopped competin... moreBuying iPhones means buying SoC power that might be slowing down thanks to software. Secondly, that kind of power is relevant for 5 years, if the software is optimized right.

                              In the past in Android world we had fewer devices each year, meaning easier to optimize. Still, software wise Apple was doing better with only 1 device each year. That's why Apple was considered better, cause everything worked smoother and more reliable, but with fewer features.

                              Now Apple has fallen behind, but still people believe that's their products are the best. That's why they make so much money. And dictate trends.

                                • ?
                                • Anonymous
                                • 397
                                • 04 Nov 2018

                                As long as people are willing to pay so everyone else knows that they are Apple users, they will continue to increase the price.

                                  I do want to create a challenge...
                                  Create EXACTLY the same device. On all axpects but only chipset is different... however they are in the same general performance segment. I want to test out how people will determine which device of the group is better.

                                    Anonymous, 04 Nov 2018Markets are moved by necessity. Apple is selling better ... moreYou do have a very valid point. However, which SoCs were are better than Qualcomm? Exynos has an excellent CPU, but not very impressive GPU, Kirin seems on the rise. And Mediatek is dead in terms of flagships, but works well for midrangers, pinecone of Xiaomi... I don't know much about these but they are good midrangers. Fill me up about other possibilities?

                                      • ?
                                      • Anonymous
                                      • 6jr
                                      • 04 Nov 2018

                                      Arvind7955, 04 Nov 2018Apple is the worst brand. Only one that does not provide the same performance YoY.

                                      Why is 835, 845 so similar in performance? Oh I know, Qualcomm is milking and Android sheep are buying. So sad, no wonder Apple overcharge.

                                        • ?
                                        • Anonymous
                                        • 6jr
                                        • 04 Nov 2018

                                        Kiyasuriin, 04 Nov 2018Sigh... I wonder when apple will learn....Markets are moved by necessity.

                                        Apple is selling better than ever (revenue wise). Meaning they do something well, obv they won't stop. It is up to the competitors to dethrone her.

                                        But competitors use Qualcomm which a SoC 2-3 years behind Apple's in development. So android phones are slow by comparison and last less. They are perceived as 2nd rate phones because of Qualcomm.

                                        Once Qualcomm dies or gets replaced by a competent company Apple prices would come back to earth. It is Android maker's fault for trusting such a bad company.

                                        Back in there day there were more companies and the competition between them made android faster than Apple. This only stopped once the slowest of all (Qualcomm) won over.

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