Apple willing to lower prices in emerging markets

Following news that Apple revenue has dropped by over 15 per cent over this past year, it makes sense that Apple needs to start rethinking their premium brand strategy. In a world that is currently suffering globally with an economic downturn and a drying up of expendable consumer cash, people are becoming a little more budget conscious and opting for cheaper alternatives wherever possible.

It’s something which Apple is finally starting to realise as, CEO Tim Cook revealed recently to Reuters that the company is reconsidering its pricing strategy for its biggest money-making iPhone brand, especially in emerging markets where sales have decreased the most and where import taxes have made them even more expensive:

When you look at foreign currencies and then particularly those markets that weakened over the last year those (iPhone price) increases were obviously more. And so as we’ve gotten into January and assessed the macroeconomic condition in some of those markets we’ve decided to go back to more commensurate with what our local prices were a year ago in hopes of helping the sales in those areas.

This is honestly something that Apple should’ve realised a long time ago. While there is no doubt that the iPhone was a premium brand when it first released 12 years ago, times have since changed and there are now many competitors capable of innovating just a much, if not more and selling their devices for less. If Apple wants to stay relevant in the current times, it needs to follow suit otherwise its loyal fan base might slowly whittle away as they realise that they are paying more for a brand that simply isn’t the best anymore.

This could be good news for local Apple fans as it could mean that some of their newer devices could be seeing a price drop in the near future and perhaps making them more affordable to the market. A lower price is still not going to convince me to get an Apple iPhone, at least not yet. Now if they could abandon their constant push for a closed ecosystem and adopt some compatible technologies that everyone else agrees on, then they might start piquing my interest.

Last Updated: January 30, 2019