Nikkei teardowns in conjunction with Tokyo-based research company Fomalhaut Techno Solutions of Apple’s latest iPhone 15 series reveal that production costs for the top-tier model rose by about 10% from those of the 2022 flagship, marking a record high for the second consecutive year. Although Apple took most of the hit this year, analysts speculate that it will pass on higher component prices to its customers in 2024.
Yuki Okoshi and Masaharu Ban for Nikkei Asia:
Apple discontinued the 128-gigabyte model for the 15 Pro Max and set the minimum price at $1,199, a $100 uptick. As it took the wraps off the new iPhone 15 range at an event in September, Apple emphasized that the new entry point did not represent a price hike as the 2022 version of the Pro Max with the same amount of memory cost the same.
Despite the doubling of NAND flash memory, the cost remained pretty much the same. Apple has apparently balanced its rising camera and semiconductor costs against falling memory prices.
With prices of daily necessities and various services rising globally, analysts were surprised that Apple maintained the U.S. prices for its latest iPhones, except for the top-of-the-line model.
The pricing decisions seem to suggest that Apple’s management is cautious about price increases that might impact sales.
However, if Apple continues to forgo passing on increased costs to consumers, the company’s bottom line will eventually take a hit. Fomalhaut CEO [Minatake] Kashio says Apple might try to raise prices next year with models other than the Pro Max.
MacDailyNews Take: It would make sense as it’s been years since Apple raised U.S. iPhone prices all while significantly upgrading the devices.
Please help support MacDailyNews. Click or tap here to support our independent tech blog. Thank you!
Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.
apple iPhone is now old tech. there is no reason for the price to keep going up. they are actually at a point where they need to consider lowering the price.apple now has too many of the same products with very little differentiation between the products.
the Mac Studio, Mac Pro, MacBook Pro, MacBook air, Mac mini, iMac
iPad Pro, iPad Air, iPad, iPad mini
not to mention the prices without intel have remained high.
Apple wants people to have large storage so they’ll take Vision Pro video. Thus the memory subsidy