Apple direct store, titanium media App shooting
In 2022, Apple, ranked second in the world, took 48% of the revenue and 85% of the profit of the mobile phone market. This exaggerated data proves Apple's position in the global market. However, excessive self-confidence has also allowed Apple to dig a lot of "holes" for itself.
Today, it's the day the yellow version of the iPhone 14/Plus goes on sale. In the eyes of Bob Borchers, Apple's vice president of global product marketing, "the new yellow iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus are the icing on the cake for this series of products." But in the hearts of consumers, they probably don't want to be this "leek yellow".
It has broken before it goes on sale, and this bright yellow has not allowed Apple to usher in its own spring.
"In the future, the iPhone standard version will be the norm, you don't need to buy it on the official website at the original price, we will not receive it in the first place," a "vendor" who collects new iPhones here all year round told Titanium Media App at the entrance of the Wangfujing Apple retail store.
Technology is based on color change, and the iPhone 14 has turned yellow
The lack of innovation in the mobile phone industry has made brands begin to work design, and colorful color matching has become one of the selling points since then.
iPhone 14 series, shot by Titanium Media App
On March 7, Apple officially announced the launch of a new yellow color scheme for iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus, which will be officially released from March 14. After the release of the new color matching, the optional colors of the iPhone 14 have also reached 6, and the last color played so slippery is Nokia.
Compared with the version launched at the fall conference in September last year, the new color of the iPhone 14/Plus is no different in performance and design, but a pure change of color.
"This is the clear inventory of apples, generally the new color is not selling well, there are a lot of raw materials accumulated before, change the color and sell it," said the above-mentioned "vendor".
iPhone 14 yellow version, shot by Titanium Media App
In the actual experience of the titanium media app, the iPhone 14/Plus yellow version feels like a low-saturation yellow, and the clerk introduced to us, "a bit similar to the color of bananas, lighter than we thought before."
It's worth noting that this isn't the first time Apple has introduced a new color scheme in the spring, and the iPhone 14/Plus isn't the first yellow model. Back in 2018, the iPhone XR launched in 2018 and the iPhone 11 launched in 2019, Apple offered consumers a yellow option.
In addition to this year's yellow, Apple also launched new colors in the spring of 2017, 2018, 2021 and 2022, which are iPhone 7/Plus RED Special Edition, iPhone 8/Plus RED Special Edition, iPhone 12/mini Purple Edition, and iPhone 13 Green and iPhone 13 Pro's Cangling Green color. Interestingly, last year's new green color scheme was also jokingly called the special version for shareholders by netizens.
It breaks before it goes on sale, and the recycling price is not as good as the black and white classic color
Today, the billboards of bus stops and Weibo screens in many places are occupied by the new color scheme of the iPhone 14. But contrary to the high-profile hype, the market reacted to the new color scheme like the weather in Beijing in early spring — cool.
In the "Apple product Jingdong self-operated flagship store", it can be seen that before the official release, under the premise of no need to pay a deposit, the number of reservations for the yellow version of the iPhone 14 is less than 30,000, which is far less than the number of reservations for domestic brands to release new products.
JD.com Apple self-operated store
Not only that, in JD.com, Taobao, Pinduoduo and Apple authorized retail stores, the iPhone 14/Plus yellow version has broken before it is released. Among them, the price of iPhone 14 is reduced by 600 yuan, starting from 5399 yuan; iPhone 14 Plus is 800 yuan off, starting at 6199 yuan.
Meituan platform iPhone 14 Plus price
After today's sale, Titanium Media App found that on the Meituan Apple authorized franchise store, superimposed coupons, the starting price of the iPhone 14 yellow version is only 5199 yuan, and the starting price of the iPhone 14 Plus is also reduced by 1000 yuan, starting at 5999 yuan.
In response, the staff of the franchise store replied that the discount in the iPhone 14 Plus store was only 800 yuan, and the 1,000 yuan discount should be subsidized by Meituan.
For the new color multi-channel price reduction, Apple direct store employees said that those are the actions of their respective dealers, the direct store has not been notified for the time being, and generally there will be no price reduction.
In the exchange, the clerk also revealed that the new color is still very popular, and many users came to pick up the goods today. The yellow launch this time is also because of the popularity of the previous yellow iPhone.
However, turning around, the clerk added, "There are still a small amount of stock now, you can take a look at it first." Perhaps, this "fire" is based on the previous low expectations. After all, if it really sells hot, how can there still be spot.
Guo Tianxiang, senior analyst at IDC China, told Titanium Media App that Apple should still want to use new colors to increase its attractiveness to change the slump of the regular version of the iPhone 14 & plus.
However, the overall market demand is still relatively sluggish, and the ordinary version of the iPhone 14 & plus product itself has limited appeal to consumers, just change the color, the product itself is not improved or improved, will not attract too much attention.
In the morning, Titanium Media App communicated with several consumers who came to pick up the goods, and the reason why they bought the new color iPhone was very simple, one was to like this color, plus the price was favorable and placed an order. The second is for gifting, and the new color scheme plus the Apple brand has a card. There is also the purpose of cashing out, and the retention rate of the iPhone is very high after all.
"If you like yellow, you can change the shell, you have to shell anyway," said Boss Li, a channel merchant who does iPhone repurchase, "Look at this market, it has to be the same as last year's green, I dare not accept it." Last year, less than a week after the release of the new green color scheme of the iPhone 13, the price fell below the official price.
According to the information learned by Titanium Media App from the recycling channel, the current iPhone 14 new recycling price is about 5100 yuan, black and white classic color price is the highest, red price is the lowest, the yellow version and red just released today is about 10-20 yuan lower than black and white classic color.
The standard version of the iPhone may become the norm, and Cook's salary will shrink again
The breaking of the new color scheme of the iPhone 14/Plus is actually expected. Last year, the iPhone 14 fell below the official price when it was first released. With the exception of the Pro and Max versions, both the Standard and Plus versions are cold.
Boss Li told Titanium Media App, "Now the iPhone premium ability is far less than before, even the premium cycle of Pro Max has been shortened, the price cannot be sold, the standard version has not made a profit, and it lost a little last year."
However, this time the new color matching of the iPhone 14/Plus broke so quickly, and the price reduction was so large, which Boss Li did not expect. "I don't know how the iPhone 15 is this year, it is still Huawei's 'reliable point', especially the Porsche version is more profitable, but it is difficult to grab."
In fact, the broken hair and color matching of the iPhone cannot be said to have nothing to do with each other, but the relationship is minimal, and it is more of a lack of attractiveness at the product level.
Guo Tianxiang believes that "the current consumer demand for Pro&Max in the market has exceeded 60%, so if Pro&Max launches new colors, the effect may be better." ”
At present, in terms of performance, even the cheapest iPhone can meet the needs of most users. This also leads to Apple only equipping the latest processor on the Pro and higher-end versions, providing higher screens and images.
Compared with the iPhone 13 released in 2021, the iPhone 14 does not have many advantages in hardware configurations such as processors, and the difference perception is even smaller, but the price difference between the two is nearly a thousand yuan.
Source: Counterpoint Research
Counterpoint Research's global monthly sales tracking of mobile phone models shows that Apple is the first brand to occupy eight places in the list of the top ten best-selling smartphones in 2022. Among them, the iPhone 13 became the best-selling smartphone in 2022, accounting for 28% of the total iPhone sales. After the launch of the iPhone 14 series, the price cut of the iPhone 13 further boosted its sales in developing markets.
The higher-priced iPhone 14 Pro Max is in third place, ahead of the seventh-ranked iPhone 14.
Guo Tianxiang said that if the iPhone 13 is completely stopped and the channel inventory is exhausted, the iPhone 14 & Plus price reduction to a certain extent, it will still attract many consumers. Referring to the previous iPhone 11, after 2 years on the market, although it is only a 4G mobile phone, as long as the price is in place, the market performance will still be good.
The decline in product power also affected Apple's financial data. The latest financial report shows that Apple's revenue and profit have both declined, and the iPhone has also declined, with revenue of $65.78 billion, down 8.2% from $71.63 billion in the same period last year.
The declining performance of the iPhone also shrank Cook's salary. According to the decision of Apple's shareholder meeting, compared with the salary of $99 million in 2022, Cook's salary of $49 million this year has shrunk by about 40%.
Against the backdrop of the decline in the global mobile phone market, the work of various brands in the first half of the year was to clear inventory. Since the beginning of this year, various channels have also opened a wave of iPhone price reduction sales to boost sales and revenue.
For Apple, if the product line or product logic is not adjusted, the future standard version of the iPhone will become the norm. Users will either opt for the Pro and Pro Max versions with more features and hardware, or the previous generation.
As for the standard version, there is no differentiated innovation, and only the price reduction will consumers be willing to pay.
(This article was first published on Titanium Media App, author/Du Zhiqiang, editor/Zhong Yi)