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Apple sold 74.5M iPhones in Q4 2015


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Old 05-02-2015, 08:04
tdenson
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Thing is, it does happen often with the iPhone from retailer's other than apple themselves.

At the end of the day, price drops are always good for us the consumer.
I've never seen a current Apple product sold by anyone else for a significant discount (>10%).
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Old 05-02-2015, 08:11
tdenson
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Sorry, I should have said: why doesn't stock Android have a battery percentage.
There are quit a few obvious things that stock Android doesn't support (or was very late in supporting).
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Old 05-02-2015, 08:23
tdenson
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Even though it is illegal to price fix, few people take or want action taken. If you sell Bose, Apple, Alpine and other big name 'premium' brands you don't want to be undercut. You want to enjoy good margins and not suffer a cut in price that leaves you with stock bought at the higher price (not everyone gets price protection or the luxury of being able to return unsold stock).

I had my own issues with two network operators that each wanted to cut my supply when I sold their phones below retail price (this was back in the 1990s). I won't mention names, but one was VERY quick to backtrack when I published the content of a compulsory 'training course' where everyone in the room was basically there to be told how to play the game or go out of business. It got into a UK trade newspaper and suddenly they had a 'change of policy'. The other network also fell foul of the regulator not long after after a few people blew the whistle.

But who would want to be cut off by Apple? And if you said anything, who else would back you? Yeah, good luck with that.

Samsung has tried to mange pricing too, even by trying to lock phones to particular regions, but failed because of a much bigger global market trading their devices - and people getting around things.

The plus side for the consumer is the high resale value of an Apple product. That £2000 iMac is probably still worth £500-800 or even more after 4-5 years. Good luck getting good money back on an item that ended up being sold for about that after a year.
I think you are being rather melodramatic about this. I suspect the way that Apple "price fix" to their retailers is by giving them a slender margin and say take it or leave it. They are not as dependant on a 3rd party channel as the other phone manufacturers as they have their own. There is just no room in that margin for significant price cuts..
Oh, and one other thing. - if Apple have fixed the price why is a MacBook Air as we speak £30 cheaper from Amazon ?
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Old 05-02-2015, 08:39
jonmorris
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£30? Wow!

The margins aren't that bad, and there should be far more discounts than there are.

I bought my iMac when £100 was knocked off on Black Friday and that was quite staggering. I suspect Apple had approved that, even though it didn't do any discounts itself last November as it has many years before.

As I said, in many ways, keeping the price fixed is good for private resale value. And ensuring the brand is never devalued.

But you are right, it's still very much a 'take it or leave it' approach.
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Old 05-02-2015, 11:01
tdenson
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I'm not quite sure why you had that reaction. I wasn't making the point that it was a big discount, simply that it was a discount at all, which seems to say to me that the price is not fixed by Apple.
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Old 05-02-2015, 11:13
jonmorris
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I doubt Apple will cut off supply for the VERY few people that knock a few quid off here and there.

There's a massive difference between the odd discount, especially on old stock, than if you saw the major retailers deciding after six months to knock £100 or £200 off a MacBook or iMac, and Amazon was full of different retailers selling their products for a range of prices as against full SRP or perhaps a few pounds off.

Ditto with the other names I mentioned that manage retail prices very effectively.

But I perhaps shouldn't have said you'll never get a discount at all, but I originally said what I did in response to the comments about phones like the LG G2 and G3 now being on sale for half the original price. We were talking about the devaluation of these products and some people were implying this was because they were inferior goods, or nobody wanted them.

When has that ever happened on an Apple product? Apple manage supply such that when a product is nearing end of line, it is taken off sale. Apple will take back stock from many big name retailers (e.g. Carphone Warehouse could return unsold iPods a month or so before the new model came out) and might then sell out the old stock as 'classic' models on its own site.

Apple is about the only place you'll ever get discounted stock in its clearance/refurbished section, or - of course - buying second hand on eBay etc.
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Old 05-02-2015, 11:46
BKM
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I've never seen a current Apple product sold by anyone else for a significant discount (>10%).
When the iPad Air was brand new in 2013 MANY well-known firms were giving £30-£50 pounds off (Tesco, Currys etc.). I got close to £100 by combining Quidco with a retailers offer.

The year the offers have been less - but to say NEVER is plain wrong!
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Old 05-02-2015, 11:56
tdenson
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When the iPad Air was brand new in 2013 MANY well-known firms were giving £30-£50 pounds off (Tesco, Currys etc.). I got close to £100 by combining Quidco with a retailers offer.
!
But that's still only of the order of 10% (I defined significant as >10%)
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Old 05-02-2015, 12:36
calico_pie
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I think you're confusing something else, like Apple's price fixing of eBooks that was more like a cartel because it was collusion with other publishers.

I'm talking about what happens to someone who chooses to sell below a suggested retail price. I've been on 'courses' which were quite simply places where you were told, off the record of course, how things worked if you wanted to sell their products.

I exposed one of these personally in the press and settled out of court with another. One day maybe someone will take action against Apple, but that's not up to me as I'm no longer selling phones or any other electronic products.

The way companies get away with it is by saying on record that people can sell their goods for any price they want, but then failing to supply goods to those people.

People either complain or comply. It's often more sensible to comply.
As I'm not the one saying Apple are illegally fixing prices, I'm not sure I am confused about anything.

Apple may set their prices as they do, and third parties may not get much of a margin on those prices, but I still don't see how that is illegal.
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Old 05-02-2015, 13:38
Stiggles
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I've never seen a current Apple product sold by anyone else for a significant discount (>10%).
Oh come now. Stop making up percentages to make it look better.

At this current time, on 3 all iphones have had at least £100 knocked off. That included PAYG.

Every appliance, device becomes reduced when either sales aren't good, or the device/appliance is about to be superseded. Apple are NOT immune from that no matter how much you think they are/should be.
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Old 05-02-2015, 13:43
tdenson
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Oh come now. Stop making up percentages to make it look better.

At this current time, on 3 all iphones have had at least £100 knocked off. That included PAYG.
.
Point me to an advert showing a SIM only iPhone 6 (it's nonsense to include contract prices) with £100+ knocked off and I'll eat humble pie.
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Old 05-02-2015, 13:51
Stiggles
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so pretty much the same as I do with Apple then.
Not really no.

You yourself a while back claimed you didn't "know much about this sort of thing" or words to that effect, yet you are one of the first ones to start on anyone saying anything negative about apple. You are very pro apple. Much more than you used to be. You have a go at people who have actually owned iphones having admitted you have never owned one yourself.

So realistically, your opinion here unless its about ipads which is the wrong section of this forum anyway, means absolutely nothing.

There is indeed a lot of absolute nonsense spouted about apple on here. That i will agree with. However, there is a lot said which is true or at least has some basis. That applies for all companies, but i don't ever see you starting on anyone if they said their Android phone has an issue.
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Old 05-02-2015, 14:02
Stiggles
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Point me to an advert showing a SIM only iPhone 6 (it's nonsense to include contract prices) with £100+ knocked off and I'll eat humble pie.
An advert? It's nonsense to include contract prices?!!

Like i said, the info i got was from hotukdeals last night. People had bought the phone with up to £100 off depending on the model. Yes, some was on contract, some was sim only and a few posts mentioned buying PAYG.

http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/ipho...36157#comments

The point is, the phone itself had been reduced in price. No arguments about it, its happened whether you like it or not. People payed less for the phone, ergo the phone had been reduced.
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Old 05-02-2015, 14:21
jonmorris
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PAYG is still subsidised, so the price can vary based on what level of subsidy a network is willing to pay (i.e. how desperate they are to get new custom).

This is precisely why there's such a problem with people buying PAYG phones, unlocking them and exporting to sell at a premium abroad.

I think we need to look only at SIM free prices, including the high street retailers (Apple included).
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Old 05-02-2015, 14:26
kidspud
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Not really no.

You yourself a while back claimed you didn't "know much about this sort of thing" or words to that effect, yet you are one of the first ones to start on anyone saying anything negative about apple. You are very pro apple. Much more than you used to be. You have a go at people who have actually owned iphones having admitted you have never owned one yourself.

So realistically, your opinion here unless its about ipads which is the wrong section of this forum anyway, means absolutely nothing.

There is indeed a lot of absolute nonsense spouted about apple on here. That i will agree with. However, there is a lot said which is true or at least has some basis. That applies for all companies, but i don't ever see you starting on anyone if they said their Android phone has an issue.
The majority of stuff written on here is not specific to the iPhone, it is about apple. If it is about the iPhone and information is readily available on the web, then I will comment. If it is on functionality that is iPhone specific and I know nothing about it, I will either say so, or not comment.

I actually feel safer commenting on the latest version of iOS, than I do on Android, but that is mainly to do with the unique ways Samsung choose to support their customers.

I also cannot help if you selectively read my posts. I have very little criticism of Android itself and like certain phones (HTC).

On the basis that your ownership of an iPhone was now such along time ago, I assume we can also dismiss your views (along with your claims of being neutral).
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Old 05-02-2015, 14:28
Stiggles
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PAYG is still subsidised, so the price can vary based on what level of subsidy a network is willing to pay (i.e. how desperate they are to get new custom).

This is precisely why there's such a problem with people buying PAYG phones, unlocking them and exporting to sell at a premium abroad.

I think we need to look only at SIM free prices, including the high street retailers (Apple included).
On 3 they are sim free.
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Old 05-02-2015, 14:36
BKM
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On 3 they are sim free.
Also on GiffGaff - who sell for £20 or so less than Apple.
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Old 05-02-2015, 14:42
jonmorris
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On 3 they are sim free.
They're unlocked, but still PAYG. A weird situation, I'll agree. I assume they have the now obligatory minimum top-up or some other processes in place to stop people buying them in bulk and exporting.

Edit: Looking at the Three website, it seems the iPhone 6+ is 99p more expensive than SIM-free via Apple direct!

iPhone 6 Plus from Apple;

16GB; £619
64GB; £699
128GB; £789

iPhone 6 Plus from Three;

16GB; £619.99
64GB; £699.99
128GB; £789.99
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Old 05-02-2015, 15:08
Stiggles
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They're unlocked, but still PAYG. A weird situation, I'll agree. I assume they have the now obligatory minimum top-up or some other processes in place to stop people buying them in bulk and exporting.

Edit: Looking at the Three website, it seems the iPhone 6+ is 99p more expensive than SIM-free via Apple direct!

iPhone 6 Plus from Apple;

16GB; £619
64GB; £699
128GB; £789

iPhone 6 Plus from Three;

16GB; £619.99
64GB; £699.99
128GB; £789.99
They are back to normal price it seems now, but yesterday they were discounted.

Iphone 6

16GB - £ 420
64GB - £ 485
128GB - £ 550

iPhone Plus

16GB - £ 485
64GB - £ 550
128GB - £ 615
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Old 05-02-2015, 15:19
Stiggles
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The majority of stuff written on here is not specific to the iPhone, it is about apple. If it is about the iPhone and information is readily available on the web, then I will comment. If it is on functionality that is iPhone specific and I know nothing about it, I will either say so, or not comment.

I actually feel safer commenting on the latest version of iOS, than I do on Android, but that is mainly to do with the unique ways Samsung choose to support their customers.

I also cannot help if you selectively read my posts. I have very little criticism of Android itself and like certain phones (HTC).

On the basis that your ownership of an iPhone was now such along time ago, I assume we can also dismiss your views (along with your claims of being neutral).
Selectively read?!! You criticise Android or manufacturers that aren't apple constantly! I have never, seen you say a bad word against apple in my time here. Just yesterday, you were at it about the G3/G2/S5 being discounted claiming they must 'lack something'. Yet you didn't take into consideration the G2 was nearly 2 years old, the G3 was a refurb model, just that they must lack something!

Yes, it was a few years back now. However, i still owned one, you did not. You say about the unique way Samsung treat their customers. Can i ask, instead of your constant bitching about this alleged Samsung phone you own, why don't you get rid of it and buy a decent phone? One that isn't a low end phone. an iphone maybe.

Why would you dismiss claims of me being neutral. Have you got any evidence to suggest otherwise? I will say, its one thing we can guarantee your not,
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Old 05-02-2015, 15:21
jonmorris
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I have to say that's an incredible discount. Surely it had to be a mistake or Three would have been cleared out with all those phones being shipped abroad or re-sold on eBay etc for a tidy profit. Especially considering they're unlocked.
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Old 05-02-2015, 15:24
Stiggles
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I have to say that's an incredible discount. Surely it had to be a mistake or Three would have been cleared out with all those phones being shipped abroad or re-sold on eBay etc for a tidy profit. Especially considering they're unlocked.
No mistake. I just noticed it yesterday on hotukdeals. Was posted yesterday but seems it had been running for a few days prior to that.

http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/ipho...-phone-2136157
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Old 05-02-2015, 15:28
Stiggles
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Also on GiffGaff - who sell for £20 or so less than Apple.
Ah, didnt know that!
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Old 05-02-2015, 15:35
kidspud
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Selectively read?!! You criticise Android or manufacturers that aren't apple constantly! I have never, seen you say a bad word against apple in my time here. Just yesterday, you were at it about the G3/G2/S5 being discounted claiming they must 'lack something'. Yet you didn't take into consideration the G2 was nearly 2 years old, the G3 was a refurb model, just that they must lack something!

Yes, it was a few years back now. However, i still owned one, you did not. You say about the unique way Samsung treat their customers. Can i ask, instead of your constant bitching about this alleged Samsung phone you own, why don't you get rid of it and buy a descent phone? One that isn't a low end phone. an iphone maybe since you have so much love for them.

Why would you dismiss claims of me being neutral. Have you got any evidence to suggest otherwise? I will say, its one thing we can guarantee your not,
The example you have just given has nothing to do with android, and as I said at the time, I was not referring to the G2 (funny you highlight that one and not all the current phones also listed), and not being able to hold their price is clearly an issue (i wonder if the manufacturers are happy with the current situation). You appear to be a little sensitive to comment, I don't know why.

The samsung phones I purchased suited my needs (and currently do at this moment in time). I might consider a 5s (or an HTC) but not just yet.

As I've already said you only have to look back in this forum to show how neutral you have been over time.

Anyhow, you really shouldn't worry whether I think you are neutral or not, I'm sure others value your balanced view of things.
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Old 05-02-2015, 15:53
jonmorris
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No mistake. I just noticed it yesterday on hotukdeals. Was posted yesterday but seems it had been running for a few days prior to that.

http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/ipho...-phone-2136157
Reading the comments, I am still unclear if it was a mistake or not. But if it was a mistake and Three have honoured it, that's an amazing price.

I'd say that there's no way there's that good a margin on the phones to Three.
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