2023-09-13 06:30:04
The new iPhone 15, during the presentation of the group’s latest products, in Cupertino, California, Tuesday September 12, 2023. JUSTIN SULLIVAN / AFP
The era of « One more thing » (” one last thing “) – when Steve Jobs, at the end of Apple’s big annual back-to-school conference, announced the release of a truly innovative product – is definitely over. At the end of the presentation of the latest products from the Apple brand (the iPhone 15 and the Apple Watch Series 9), Tuesday September 12, the average consumer will have a hard time identifying what technological leap might persuade them to rush into products which, from one year to the next, ultimately change little.
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If all its competitors have taken the turn towards folding phones, the Cupertino (California) firm will not venture into this segment once more this year. In addition to increased photo or video performance and some new features, Apple announced that its new phones would now use the most widely used cable format (USB-C) to charge its devices – which is what Europe expects. had been forced to do so in the short term anyway.
The brand also strived to demonstrate that it was on the right track to achieve its objective of making all of its products carbon neutral by 2030. A criterion which the latest Apple Watch would now meet. “A growing proportion of Apple customers will be willing to pay extra for greener products”, underlines Thomas Husson, vice-president of Forrester.
Unfavorable context
Will it also be to acquire the iPhone 15 Pro Max, the brand’s first device to be coated in titanium and whose entry price is 1,199 dollars (1,116 euros), compared to 1,099 dollars for the equivalent device last season? In Europe, the entry price will be 1,479 euros for the version with the smallest storage space (256 GB) and 1,979 euros for the one with 1 terabyte of storage.
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An increase which can be explained by the research and development efforts of Apple, which has developed its own electronic chips for its phones and watches, or by inflation, which is straining the global economy. But Apple has always had the talent to succeed in convincing its customers, especially the richest, to spend more and more on its products, with the highest average selling price in the smartphone market, estimated at around $1,000. Its cheapest device today costs $429.
Tim Cook’s company is wielding the pricing lever at a time when it is facing an unfavorable context: the smartphone market recorded a 9% year-on-year decline in the second quarter, according to a report published on September 5 by the Counterpoint firm. Even if Apple is resisting this movement rather better than its competitors, it is seeing its prospects darken in China, its third market, which accounts for 20% of its turnover, with measures taken by Beijing prohibiting civil servants from use devices from the Apple brand and Huawei’s return to competition.
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