“Every other year, for nearly a decade now, Apple has released a redesigned, updated version of its iPhone smartphone,” Mike Murphy writes for Quartz. “But it’s been reported that its next new phone, the iPhone 7, will look pretty much identical to the iPhone 6 and 6S. According to some sources, Apple will then skip making an ‘S’ model in 2017, and go straight to releasing an iPhone 8 that will be a complete overhaul stylistically and technologically.”
“Quartz recently polled 525 US iPhone owners using SurveyMonkey Audience and discovered that many likely wouldn’t upgrade to a new phone this year if Apple doesn’t release a redesigned iPhone,” Murphy writes. “About 25% of respondents said they’re either extremely or very interested in upgrading to each new iPhone redesign. But only about 10% said they were extremely or very likely to upgrade to a new iPhone this year if Apple doesn’t redesign the phone.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: iPhone 7 sales will exceed most people’s expectations.
There is nothing that will make me switch. I have a 6 and other than more memory I wish I had, changing up and paying nearly $1000 for a phone is not going to happen. And I don’t want to hear from you people who say, “You can get it without paying $1000 by adding it too your bill.” You are the same people who never own a car with that economic indigestion. Always paying for something you need to purchase outright.
Guess you refuse to acknowledge Apple’s installment plan which gives you a brand new maxed out configuration of new iPhone and free annual upgrades for about $35 flat per month plus free Applecare (which is worth its weight in gold) and would rather convince yourself that paying “nearly $1000” is the only way to get an iPhone…
Wake up dummy you can have the real thing, Apple renowned service and unlimited upgrades for a minimal installment every month.
To be flippant; the contract method is a Breeze. Especially when it is needed for business.
To be serious, just one fault and the constant Applecare pays for itself over and over.
The money to get out of a failure once out of warranty is high and I’ve had to do it once.
As careful as I am, my last one with a failed power connection may have been due to my actions. The contract method is looking real good.
Oh…and iPhone 7 will have more memory…
256GB storage, 2 or 4GB RAM?
On some models probably both
Right. Because buying something cash up-front is wiser economically than buying on a 0% interest installment plan and investing the cash in something that _earns_ money for you.
There are two way’s to pay for things, one is up front and other on time. Up front payment you can depreciate the entire device in one year, if you are in business. If you pay for it on time means that you do not have the capability to pay cash, I do. But to put out $1000 for every alteration of a device for minimal improvements is just bad business. You are caught in the “pay as you go” mentality, which means you never own anything outright. It’s never 0% interest btw, there are always markups and pricing issues, plus that stick it in your ass contract that you always have to obey.
It’s called Autopay Michael Twit Nut! Must people wouldn’t even notice -$45 drop every month
Bullshit.
It doesn’t make sense to me to be obsessed that a new iPhone model should look significantly different from it’s predecessor. Most smartphones now look reminiscent of iPhones anyway because the design is so practical. There’s only so much you can do to alter the shape and once you have established a great design, what’s the point of major changes, just for the sake of changing?
The thing that makes the difference is what’s on the inside. It may not be obvious to the casual observer, but if a new iPhone has a better camera, faster processor and a new operating system, it will be a lot better than the previous one and the user will appreciate those improvements
By all means significantly change the look when there is a good reason to do so ( new materials or different major features ), but otherwise stay close to that winning formula.
Having been involved with market surveys in the past, I know how it’s very easy to lead people by asking questions that ‘guide’ their response, so I wouldn’t read too much into a survey of this type unless the precise manner of questioning were disclosed ( which never happens ).
My anecdotal impression of purchasing intentions is that people are more likely to get a new phone when their existing contract expires, or alternatively when they lose or break their old one. I suspect that the number who rush out to buy the latest and greatest model is somewhat smaller than many people imagine. Even though there is a massive peak in sales when a new iPhone is released, a certain proportion of those buyers will be people who signed a contract two years ago and it’s now time to sign a new contract. For those people, having an iPhone that looks different is a welcome bonus, but not necessarily the main reason to buy it.
Alan, I agree.
Only a teenager wants something that looks different today, but nobody cares next week when lots of people have the same ‘thing.’
iPhones are primarily a functional device, nothing more.
I’m getting a new iPhone just to get out of AT&T contract lock-in.
And no, I won’t be buying it from any carrier even if their deal is half the cost of Apple’s. They have ripped me off for years; time for payback to the extent I can.
Perception is reality – and incremental improvements will not get people out of their chairs when what they have is “good enough”. These are the signs of a mature market. How many people are running out to get the new Skylake processors after two years of having a laptop? Barely any. Because incremental performance improvements with little to no new features/design will not get people out of their seats, or their wallets out of their pocket.
Depends on how many iPhone 5s are still in use. That is the main target market.
We’ve reached a point where incremental changes are all there is. A smart phone is a touch screen, a few buttons, cameras, a processor, a battery, and a operating system. They come in multiple sizes. Whether it has a current technology screen or a OLED screen, who cares, as long as its sharp and bright and renders colors well.
You can change the colors of the case, move the buttons around (if you can do that without really annoying people that are used to them where they are) update the screen and say its better then before, perhaps more energy efficient so your battery lasts a touch longer. Put in a bigger battery, (if you can make one fit without making the case significantly bigger or the device significantly heavier.
So what else is there, more memory, faster processors and better operating system, Android isn’t really getting that much better, IOS has always been better and IOS 10 will add features that hopefully people will want and enjoy.. Plus Apple’s ecosystem has always been better.. The integration with your Mac or iPad.
If your happy with your 6 or 6S, don’t get an iPhone 7, wait for the next generation, it will be largely the same other than it maybe a touch faster, and have a new version of IOS on it. And maybe it will have 5G.
I must admit my iPhone 6 Plus is still “plenty gud.” But I’d like some of the added still camera and 4K video features of the new iPhone 7. Therefore I WILL be upgrading. But it’s true for many iPhones have gotten so good a 3 or 4 year cycle is here without much ill effect for holding on to yesterday.
Personally, I tend to enjoy things that do not change appearance radically, but offer improved performance. Kinda like lots of things I buy based upon physical industrial design and utility, like shoes, and watches, and cars, and, yeah, toasters and pens and clocks and furniture…. I think you get my point. When the 5 appeared, all in black, it was love at first sight, and the size also pleased my aesthetic sense, as well as fitting well into my hand during use. The 6 and 6s both failed for me design-wise and utility-wise, whereas the 6E (my present iPhone) at least comes close to the near-perfection of the 5, and certainly out-performs it in all areas. Would I have preferred that the all-black option were still available? Yup, you bet. I prefer bumper cases which means the grey sides are hidden so I still have to deal with the grey on the back of the phone, but that’s a niggling complaint. It still fits and looks superb, whereas the 6 and 6s, to me at least, as gorgeous as they indeed are, fall short of the 5 much more. As for general design, yes, Apple leads all the rest. There are no, as far as I know, smartphones out there that don’t slavishly follow Apple’s design lead, and for sure many out of Korea and China are clone copies that, yes, should be outlawed by copyright and design patents, but, for whatever probably corrupt reasons, are not.
The iPhone7 will sell because:
-There is a lot of people on 5, 5c, 5s that are ready to upgrade.
-The 2 years plan on iPhone 6 ends.
-The iPhone plan will actually be in effect.
-Average Joe apple consumer couldnt care less about the iphone8 or the iphone7 being a incremental upgrade.
– It will be a fresh new Apple product.
Geeks might miss out but hey! They’re in minority.
I also prefer to buy the phone upfront and not have the monthly payments, but your argument is ridiculous. The only time you pay $1000 for an iPhone is if you previously had no phone at all. Unless you’re a hoarder and you’re keeping your old device every year instead of selling it for 60-80% of what you originally paid for it. I buy a new phone every year and I pay hardly anything out of pocket.
YEAH! If only Apple would change the iPhone 7 design, people would MOB to get one! Here are a couple great change ideas!
BTW: If you look at the general design of automobiles over the last few decades, do they really look any different? No. Funny how they keep being sold anyway. I wonder why.
They do look different. One looks like a Corolla while the other looks like a Stingray.
They also come in different sizes. Some are boxy vans, some are sleek Ferraris. They come in many different colors beside 3 and there is variety.
Take iPhone 1 to the current iPhone and ask anyone if they look different and the majority will say it looks the same.
Meagre little changes. Apparently that’s enough to trigger the ‘Ooo! Ahh!’ Effect. So if Apple added an iPhone hood ornament…
Ives has the easiest job in the world. He sits around doing nothing.
That’s why the iPhones look the same year after year.
Stick a new label and a faster chip on it and call it a day.
According to Stifel US mobile phone imports from China were -28% y/y on a US$ basis over the June quarter. I’m assuming two reasons for this are because the iPhone 6s is an older design and because of the introduction of the SE.
The 6s and 6s Plus designs are almost two years old, and the SE design is a much older design. The SE is hundreds of dollars less expensive, so it appears sales over the June quarter were made to the value consumer. Selling fewer high-end models and additional less expensive models translates into large decreases in revenue.
What will occur in the upcoming quarters? I believe demand for the SE will reduce because much of the value demand will have been previously satisfied. If higher-end models look the same as the 6 series, and there is no compelling feature (improved camera doesn’t count) then demand for these devices will probably match what the 6s did in the US during the June quarter, which is probably down y/y by 15-20 percent.
It should be noted that non-Android phone sales increased by 29 percent in China during the June quarter. I’m assuming many of these were iPhones, but the question is, how many were SE’s? Even if many SE’s were sold in China, revenue there could be higher than it was last year. This increase could offset revenue decreases in other parts of the world, especially in the US. It will be interesting to see how this all shakes out.
It’s not all dire because the SE is increasing the base. This means services and other products like Apple Watches, acessories and future AR/VR revenue will continue to grow at a healthy rate. Plus, these value consumers, switchers from Android, etc. might be more willing to upgrade to a more expensive iPhone in 2017-2018 if those models are compelling enough.
Source:
http://www.barrons.com/articles/BL-TB-52245
People will upgrade if they WANT or NEED to. That is the only thing that matters. We all have brains to make choices for ourselves. All the banter in here pushing for everyone to follow someone else’s suggestions is stupid. Use your brain. Upgrade or not. Just make an informed decision as you would in an election.