A cheap iPhone X at half the price won't save Apple

Like the iPhone SE, the iPhone X, which has been a symbol of Apple for more than a decade, eventually became a failed product. Last year, many analysis agencies were optimistic about the iPhone X, but it turned out that the analysts were wrong.

More than two months after the iPhone X was officially released, analysts kept lowering their sales forecasts for the iPhone X, and then Apple kept lowering its order volume. Now it seems that the iPhone X, which integrates multiple new technologies such as full screen, facial recognition, and wireless charging, has not curbed the downward trend in Apple's mobile phone sales. For this reason, Apple decided to launch a cheaper version of the iPhone X to save the market.

Did the high price kill the iPhone X?

As we all know, the iPhone X with a full screen has indeed set a new record for the price of Apple mobile phones. Apple, being overconfident, overestimated the spending power of users. The cruel fact proves that many consumers are not willing to pay for the high-priced iPhone X. Perhaps because of this, the sales of iPhone X are so bad.

The question is, is it the high price that affects the sales of iPhone X? Judging from Apple's strategy of urgently launching a cheap version of iPhone X, Apple feels that the high price has killed the iPhone X, a product of historical significance. Judging from some feedback from consumers, the high price has indeed affected the sales of iPhone X, but this is not the real reason. Judging from the current market situation, the growth rate of the global smartphone market is slowing down, and the decline in Apple's mobile phone sales is also reasonable.

The real reason why consumers are not interested in iPhone X is the product itself. Since Cook took over Apple, the pursuit of profit has become Apple's philosophy, ignoring product innovation, causing Apple's hardware sales to continue to decline in recent years. Think about Apple in the Steve Jobs era, each generation of products always had some disruptive innovation. The Retina high-definition screen introduced by iPhone 4 and the adherence to the screen size have ensured the excellent user experience of Apple phones.

In contrast, some design deficiencies of iPhone X have caused some damage to the user experience. The touch screen fails in low temperatures, caller ID is delayed, the receiver has noise, facial recognition unlocking is easily cracked, screen burn-in... Some media have done statistics and found that the iPhone X currently has about 11 problems. Although previous Apple phones also had some problems, such a high frequency of problems is still unprecedented. What's more, the price of iPhone X is close to 10,000 yuan, which makes many consumers very cautious when choosing.

Another factor that cannot be ignored is that the frequency reduction incident has made many consumers wary of Apple phones. What's more, consumers spent nearly 10,000 yuan to buy an iPhone X, but more than a year later they have to endure the pain of reduced performance. The existence of multiple factors has caused the sales of iPhone X to continue to decline.

A Cheap iPhone X Won't Save Apple

The sales forecast has been lowered several times, which has accelerated the discontinuation of iPhone X. According to the supply chain, after a significant reduction in production capacity, iPhone X will be discontinued this fall. In order to save the declining sales of mobile phones, Apple decided to launch a cheaper version of iPhone X.

According to ***'s revelations, the cheap version of iPhone X is equipped with a 6.1-inch LCD screen, retaining Apple's signature notch full-screen design. In order to reduce costs, some unnecessary functions and components have been castrated, the rear dual camera has become a single camera, wireless charging and 3D Touch are gone, and such a cheap version of iPhone X is priced at about US$700, equivalent to about RMB 4,500. It has to be said that the price is indeed very attractive. However, can a lower price arouse consumers' desire to buy? In my opinion, it is difficult. Isn't iPhone SE a good proof?

At Apple's 2016 Spring Festival press conference, the iPhone SE was officially unveiled, just over half a year after the iPhone 6s series was launched. Now it seems that the poor sales of the 4-inch screen, powerful iPhone SE are because this product is a bit neither fish nor fowl. The performance of the iPhone SE is not inferior to the iPhone 6s, but the price is half of the flagship, but for consumers, the iPhone SE has no product features. Let's take a look at the cheap version of the iPhone X. The product positioning is very similar to the iPhone SE, which had poor sales that year. It also cuts off some core functions to reduce the product price.

Compared with iPhone X, the most distinctive feature of the cheap version of iPhone X is that it is half the price. It is undeniable that the high price has affected the sales of iPhone X to a certain extent, but this is not the main reason. Just imagine that when Apple mobile phones were first launched a few years ago, scalpers sold them for more than 10,000 yuan and people still lined up to buy them. This shows that Apple fans do not care about the price, but the quality and performance of the products. In 2016, Apple believed that many people still loved small screens and launched the failed iPhone SE. Now, Apple believes that Apple fans are short of money and is trying to increase sales with the cheap version of iPhone X.

Frankly speaking, using a cheap version of iPhone X to save sales is just wishful thinking for Apple, because Apple does not know the real reason why the product is unsalable. Obviously, the painful lesson of iPhone SE did not make Apple clear, but made Apple lost in the dilemma of declining sales.

Written in ***: Comprehensively speaking, there are many reasons for the low sales of iPhone X, and the high price is only one of them. The product lacks disruptive innovation and has many problems, which are the reasons for the low sales of iPhone X. Therefore, lowering the price will not improve the sales of Apple phones. Making good products is the best way to save the decline in sales of Apple phones.