Where there is smoke, there could be fire, and Apple
may indeed be changing its pricing structure for the expected 2018 trio of new
iPhones. It was reputed Apple observer Kuo who first tipped new price brackets
for Apple's upcoming fall crop. The iPhone X (2018) sequel, he claimed,
carrying a 5.8" OLED screen, is to be priced in the range of US$ 800 to US$ 900,
depending on the storage configuration. The X Plus version of the phone,
carrying an eventual 6.5" OLED panel, was tipped to cost US$ 900 to US$ 1000,
while he envisions the "affordable" model, with a 6.1" LCD
display, to be priced at US$ 600 to US$ 700, depending on the SIM slot number and/or
storage configuration.
A top Morgan Stanley analyst has now run the numbers
how the new tags will affect Apple's average selling price (ASP) metric, and
arrived roughly at the same conclusion as Kuo. She, however, is firm on a US$ 999
starting price for the largest iPhone Apple has ever built, as the most
plausible scenario. Running down the ladder will be the 2018 iPhone X sequel at
$799, and the LCD iPhone could start at US$ 699-769, depending on the prediction
model she uses. In this case, Morgan Stanley's head of research argues, Apple's
ASP can swing 2% up or down from the record numbers last quarter, depending on
the mix Apple manages to sell.
Where do all thеse analyst reports leave the
original prediction for a 6.1" iPhone starting at US$ 599 or US$ 549 even? Well,
let's not forget that Apple may issue a dual-SIM model for the first time, and
it is precisely the cheapo LCD iPhone and the high-end X Plus that might land
in two configurations, with the dual-SIM ones probably destined for the Asian
markets.
Typically, we'd just say mid-September here, but
there are plenty of rumors now that Apple's new 2018 iPhone with the LCD
display and the single-camera may be released in October or as late as
November. That's a month (or two, depending on when the fall iPhone crop is
scheduled for announcement) later than the usual launch timeframe for iPhones,
but let's not forget that last year, the iPhone X was the one that shipped much
later than the 8 and 8 Plus, due to production yield problems with the brand
new TrueDepth camera kit needed for FaceID.
Well, this year TrueDepth production should have
been mastered already, but the LCD panel is reportedly causing the same yield
problems. Apple has allegedly tasked JDI with its Full Active screen tech, as
well as LG Display, to produce the 6.1" panel, but going around the huge
notch may have proved more problematic than expected. Industry sources cite
issues with light leakage around the notch at both manufacturers, which will be
hard to circumvent, and might lead to a delayed release. Granted, LG already
has a top-shelf LCD phone with a notch on the market, but the G7's protrusion
is much narrower, and, besides, who knows what heavy quality demands Apple is
posing towards its suppliers.
At the purported 150.9mm x 76.5mm x 7.7mm, this
upcoming iPhone is arguably Apple's first big-screen phone in a fairly compact
body that also comes at "affordable" for the company's standards
price tag, so Apple has a lot riding on not bungling the launch.
On the bright side, an LCD iPhone launch that comes
later than the high-end OLED successors of the iPhone X may force early
upgraders to splurge for the more expensive models this year. That would be a
total reverse of Apple's strategy in 2017 that led to lukewarm X sales,
compared to many forecasts. Win-win, yet analysts warn that, due to the delayed
release, Apple may sell "just" 30-40 million LCD iPhone units this
fiscal year, and 75 million OLED ones. Poor team from Cupertino, what are your
own pricing predictions for the new iPhone 2018?
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