Adam Kos At the beginning of the iPhone era, Apple got by with just one model. If you don't count the iPhone SE, we now have four new models every year. Unfortunately for us and Apple, it looks like it's too much. Not all variants sell very well and the company is limiting production. So isn't it time to trim down the model lines a bit?
Up until the iPhone 5, we only saw one new Apple smartphone model every year. With the arrival of the iPhone 5S, Apple also introduced the colorful iPhone 5C, and in the following years we always had one smaller and one larger model with the nickname Plus. Apple abandoned the classic form of iPhones with Touch ID in the desktop button with the iPhone X, definitively a year later with the iPhone XS and XR. But it was with the anniversary edition that Apple first introduced iPhone 11, when it did so for the next two years, most recently with iPhone XNUMX.
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The four models first came with the iPhone 12, when the basic model was accompanied by the iPhone 12 mini, 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max. But the bet on the mini version did not pay off very well, we only saw it once in the iPhone 13 series. Now, with the iPhone 14, it has been replaced by a larger model, which has the same equipment as the basic 6,1" iPhone 14, only it has 6,7 .XNUMX" display and bears the renewed Plus moniker. And there is almost no interest in him.
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Reducing production
So it might seem that customers are not interested in experiments in the form of mini and Plus models, but are more likely to go for models with the Pro designation. But if we look at this year's versions, the basic ones practically do not bring any important innovations for which the customer should buy them, which cannot be said for the Pro versions after all. These have at least Dynamic Island, a 48 MPx camera and a newer, more powerful chip. So it clearly makes more sense for customers to invest in them rather and pass the basic models unnoticed.
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If there is no interest in something, it results in the withdrawal of orders, usually also a discount, but we probably won't see that with Apple. He reportedly told his suppliers to immediately cut production of the iPhone 14 Plus by 40%. If he relieves the production lines here, on the contrary, he wants to make them more busy with the production of iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max, about which the interest in knowing is higher, which would also shorten the waiting time, which is also in the range of two to three weeks in our country.
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A possible solution
In the shadow of the iPhone 14 The iPhone 14 Pro is clearly not worth it either in terms of equipment or price. In most respects, it is even worth reaching for last year's thirteens, either the Pro models or the basic one, if you do not require a large display. So, although Apple once again introduced four models, the two basic ones are actually only in number and by necessity.
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I don't think Apple should narrow the portfolio, because there are still many who don't need the features of the iPhone Pro and would rather save even a small crown for the basic version. But Apple could think more about whether it is appropriate to target all models for September and the pre-Christmas market. If it would not be more worthwhile for him to separate the two models from each other and introduce the basic series at another time and then, i.e. after a few months, the Pro series. However, he could also do it the other way around, when the basic series would be based on the Pro models as an SE edition. However, I do not expect that they will listen to me in this regard.
Or change the pricing policy a bit. But this year Apple made a faux pas with the base 14. Everyone has to admit that.
You see, for example, I have a lot of 12 and especially 13 mini around me, and I am surprised that globally they are not doing so well...
I would probably not draw any major conclusions from the fact that one generation (which, frankly, is more of a refresh than a new generation) does not break records after the start of sales.
For non-PRO version customers, the following applies now:
1) the price of the 14 is unfortunately high and the 13 PRO is not that much more expensive and will offer more, or the 13 will serve basically the same for less money.
2) 14 is not a phone that brings something to motivate an immediate switch - ie. a lot of people will buy a 14 if they need a new iPhone during the year, but it doesn't make much sense to get rid of the 13 for it and buy it on release day. Just when someone buys an iPhone 14 in half a year, they will be happy that they are buying a phone that is half a year old, not a year and a half old.
I'm quite happy with the current portfolio, I'm just sad that the mini line was discontinued, although it would be more than enough for me if they updated it every 2 years for example.
Totally agree with Lukáš. For me, 13 mini is a great phone. I can imagine a cycle of 1x per year for the models and reward the basic one once every two years with a processor from the last Pro generation. The costs would probably be lower for them and there would at least be an inter-generational difference, which is now missing between 13 and 14.