Cook has made frequent ruthless moves! Apple has become the "king of diving"? The price of the iPhone 15 continues to be reduced

Text: Connected Fish

Cook's ruthless tricks are frequent: Apple has become the "king of diving"?

Apple's recent iPhone 15 price cut in the Chinese market has sparked a new round of attention and discussion about Apple's price strategy. Some even joked that under Cook's leadership, Apple seemed to be about to become the "king of diving".

As the CEO of Apple, Cook made a series of decisions based on changes in the market environment and Apple's own strategic considerations. The price of Apple's iPhone has indeed undergone several adjustments over the past period.

On the one hand, the price reduction of the iPhone 15 series is because Cook realizes that China, a huge growth market, cannot be ignored, and Chinese consumers are particularly price-sensitive, so a flexible pricing strategy is the key to stimulating demand.

On the other hand, the growth rate of the global smartphone market is slowing down, and price wars have become an important means for brands to compete for the market. Cook clearly doesn't want Apple to stick to the high-end market, and it is one of his strategies to cut prices appropriately to expand market share.

Let's take a look at the data underpinning. Previously, after the iPhone XR and iPhone 11 series were launched at a discount, Apple's shipments and market share in China have increased significantly.

For example, the iPhone XR once became Apple's best-selling model. According to the data, after the release of the iPhone 11 series, Apple's shipments in China in the fourth quarter of 2019 increased by about 3.1% year-on-year.

These numbers justify Cook's price strategy, which has led to considerable growth for Apple, at least in the short term.

Of course, there are no less critics. They believe that Apple's price cuts could damage its premium brand image.

But from Cook's point of view, maintaining a certain size of the market is more important than short-term profits. This is also an important consideration for his price strategy. In the context of the slowdown in the global smartphone market, Apple must take steps to stimulate demand and expand market share.

If you stick too much to the high-price strategy, it may limit Apple's room for growth.

In fact, since Tim Cook took over as CEO in 2011, Apple's earnings performance has been growing strongly. Over the past decade, Apple's revenue has grown from $108 billion in fiscal 2011 to $383.3 billion in 2023.

This shows that Cook's strategy has been successful, at least in part. Now, in view of the price reduction of the iPhone 15 in the Chinese market again, the analysis believes that this mainly considers several factors.

The first is the fierce competition in the Chinese market. China not only has strong competition from local brands such as Huawei, Xiaomi, OPPO and vivo, but also international brands such as Samsung and Google. If Apple wants to gain a foothold in this market, it must have a more attractive price.

Second, Chinese consumers are very hungry for new technologies and features, which means that new iPhones will greatly increase their market appeal if they offer the latest technologies and features at a lower price.

Finally, with the improvement of brand awareness among Chinese consumers, price is no longer the only purchase factor, and high cost performance has become a new demand.

Overall, Cook's price moves, while somewhat risky, also show his keen insight into the market and confidence in Apple's future. Of course, it will take time to verify whether this strategy will work in the long run.

But at least for now, Mr. Cook's pragmatic choice seems to be in line with market trends in an attempt to maintain a leading position in the highly saturated smartphone market.

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