Did Apple retail prices get too high in 2018? Consumers say yes
Apple has for years been a premium brand that rarely, if ever discounted products. Period.
Every year, the company could raise prices on products, and consumers would not only happily pay, but stand in long lines for the privilege of doing so.
So when Apple started putting misleading, but seemingly consumer-friendly posters in front of Apple Stores at the end of 2018 offering a new iPhone model for $300 off (with trade-in of your current phone), you know something different happened for the company this year.
Consumers fought back.
The problem (because Apple is not used to competing this way) is that once consumers have broken off from a brand (as I've heard quite a few have done from Apple in 2018), they do not just suddenly come back. Many have already committed to new Android, Microsoft, etc purchases. What I don't get is that Apple makes the very highest profit margins out of all tech companies (by a big margin) so their prices were not set for profitability's sake. It looks very much like just milking the faithful for whatever they would pay. I'm still sweating out my 2014 Macbook Air and have long since moved to an Android phone. I think Apple has already lost a lot of faithful clients. The same is being seen in the new product announcements as well, with no new great innovations. Maybe real competition will put some spark back into Apple as well as adjusting pricing to competing levels.
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New iPhones: Did Apple prices get too high in 2018? Consumers say yes |