advertisement
Facebook
X
LinkedIn
WhatsApp
Reddit

Apple reassessing international iPhone pricing following recent revenue fall

Earlier this month Apple revised its projections for the first fiscal quarter of 2019, citing slowing iPhone demand and increased hurdles in key markets like China.

Now the official earnings report has been released, and true to the Cupertino-based firm’s projections, this latest quarter has proved far less fruitful than past ones. Especially when it comes to iPhone sales, with it dipping by an estimated 15 percent year-on-year.

With difficulty in China cited by the company, it looks like Apple may be looking at its international iPhone pricing as a potential remedy to the declining sales.

More specifically Apple CEO, Tim Cook, sat down with Reuters for an interview to discuss the recent quarterly report, and noted that the company would be reassessing how it sells its mobile devices outside of the United States.

In the past Apple has stuck with US dollar pricing and exchange rates for its pricing, with carriers in countries then tacking on their respective mark ups. This has seen the iPhone XS Max for example, start at R23 999 (64GB) at the time of local launch, making it one of the most expensive devices on the South African market to date.

“When you look at foreign currencies and then particularly those markets that weakened over the last year those [iPhone price] increases were obviously more,” explained Cook.

“And so as we’ve gotten into January and assessed the macroeconomic condition in some of those markets we’ve decided to go back to more commensurate with what our local prices were a year ago in hopes of helping the sales in those areas,” he adds.

With brand loyalty, especially in the smartphone space, not being what it once was, there is certainly a need for Apple and Samsung alike to look at the way they price their phones. This as Chinese brands like Huawei are being aggressive both in terms of pricing and quality of their devices, and therefore closing the gap on their rivals.

Whether or not Apple will indeed look to adopt a different pricing strategy for territories outside of the United States, remains to be seen.

advertisement

About Author

advertisement

Related News

advertisement