Apple has reportedly canceled additional iPhone XR production due to poor demand for the so-called budget iPhone ($749), according to Nikkei Asian Review.
This is not surprising at all. Besides customers waiting for more than 3 years to upgrade their phones, smartphone buyers are getting smart when it comes to buying a new smartphone. And it’s an alarming situation for the American tech juggernaut.
The iPhone XR, which was largely expected to be the best selling iPhone this year, turns out to be a disappointment for Apple. What could possibly go wrong this year?
In this article, I’ll give you three reasons why the iPhone XR will be a market failure.
Why the iPhone XR Will Be a Failure
The iPhone, the most popular gadget right now, seems to be in decline as the Silicone Valley company decided to stop reporting iPhone unit sales on quarterly earnings releases. From a business standpoint, it makes perfect sense since global iPhone unit sales are the key factor for investors to assess the company’s strength.
For the past couple of years, Apple’s started to release more than one iPhone each year, which includes a budget-friendly iPhone. However, the company often fails to capture those budget-conscious smartphone buyers when they launch a low-cost iPhone for lower-price markets such as China and India.
And this year once again, Apple introduced the low-cost iPhone, the iPhone XR. The device packs the same new powerful A12 Bionic chip that powers the iPhone Xs and Xs Max.
The biggest downsides of this phone are the display and camera. There’s a single 12MP rear camera, (no second telephoto lens) and a low-resolution 720p LCD display – and for the whopping price of $750.
1. Cheaper Excellent High-end Smartphones
The tech giant has repeated itself this year. The company started selling higher-priced models first (iPhone XS, XS Max) and then release the price-friendly iPhone (iPhone XR) the following month to avoid any form of competition from itself. But that didn’t prevent the iPhone XR to be a disappointment for Apple in terms of sales.
The time seems to be tougher or nearly impossible for the smartphone maker to sell a budget iPhone, at least its approach has been like a moving target so far.
When you have companies like OnePlus that sell flagship smartphones, which cost about $500 – And offer almost everything a premium iPhone would have except for the experience, then you realize the iPhone XR was not going to cut it.
2. No Pride
Whether you live in the States or a third-world country, there’s that kind of pride in owning an iPhone. Since Apple introduced the original iPhone, the gadget has been a synonym of premium until the company decided to chase emerging markets by releasing the unapologetically plastic iPhone 5C.
With the iPhone XR, iPhone fans don’t see it as a premium product, despite being a next-generation iPhone. It’s a completely different scenario compared to the iPhone 5C, which was the prior-generation iPhone 5 housed in a colorful body. iPhone users want the greatest and latest iPhone and are a bit skeptical when it comes to Apple selling budget-friendly products.
Big bezels around the screen, low-resolution display, and a single rear camera (no portrait mode) are enough to keep iPhone fans away from this phone. They don’t want to get the meme treatments.
3. iPhone 8 and 8 Plus Competition
Customers would rather spend more money to own the high-end iPhone instead of spending less to own a budget-friendly one. At this point, we all can agree loyal iPhone users (those that buy an iPhone every iPhone) don’t like mid-range iPhones. Most of them even go after maxed-out configurations.
Those who own older iPhone models are opting for discounted models like the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, which cost $150 and $50 less, respectively. That’s why Apple decided to not expand production lines of the iPhone XR. Instead, the company has asked to boost up production of the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus models, as demand is still strong for those units.
At the time of this writing, the iPhone XR is still available on Apple’s website with no sign to go out of stock anytime soon. And as the festive sales period approaches, expectations are not great. Unfortunately, the iPhone XR will most likely suffer the iPhone 5C’s fate.
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