We’ve been chuckling at Apple’s latest iPhone XR commercial, which showed off the budget-friendly iPhone’s photographic capabilities, and incidentally produced another spike in Google searches for “bokeh.” Seriously, see how high that spike was last September when the new iPhones debuted.
Anyway, the ability to bokeh or un-bokeh someone’s child (it depends on if you hate them, according to Apple) is a nice feature to show off, but is there more to the current, heavier focus on the iPhone XR? It makes sense to shower attention on one of your newest products, but some seem to notice a shift in attention away from the iPhone XS and XS Max in favor of the cheaper iPhone XR, which reportedly accounted for nearly as many sales in the last quarter than both the XS and XS Max combined. It’s not just the commercial, either. Apple extended its trade-in program through March, at least in China, to encourage upgrades from the iPhone 6 and up.
If the goal is to get iPhones into more hands (and yes, that’s the goal), the cheaper iPhone XR now seems to be Apple’s best bet.
Apple’s Financial Difficulties and Focus on Services
Apple has been in turbulent financial waters recently, and a big part of its troubles comes from lower iPhone sales. Many reasons are suggested for this, such as, according to ZDNet, “Apple's high retail pricing, unfavorable foreign exchange rates, competition from rivals like Huawei, and Apple's $29 battery-replacement program.”
A quick glance at Apple’s iPhone problems seems to reveal one simple lesson: as its prices go up and competitors surpass the iPhone, units sales decrease. It’s becoming harder and harder to justify the high price tag for features found on similar devices at lower prices.
Because of lower iPhone sales, Apple appears to be refocusing its efforts on services like Apple Music, App Store Sales, paid iCloud storage, and new streaming and subscription services. However, for Apple to boost revenue via its services, it first needs to get devices into users’ hands. There’s no turning its back on the iPhone.
So the focus on the iPhone XR is twofold. Not only is it the best way to move product and placate users disillusioned by ginormous price tags, it’s also the most efficient way to grow its “active installed base,” or the number of connected users who can now be targeted via Apple-provided services.
So Maybe Learn How to Fix the iPhone XR
The bottom line is, no matter where you are, the iPhone XR is, and will likely continue to be, the dominant iPhone for the foreseeable future. And the more popular the phone, the more of them will break. We can’t say if owning an iPhone XR will make users buy more iCloud storage (ugh), but we can that repair techs should expect to see more of them than the iPhone XS and XS Max. Replacement parts are available now, and more small parts are expected to arrive as they become available.
Let’s see what the future holds together!