Apple finally gets the memo on sacrificing margin for market share

By making its entry-level new phone cheaper than last year’s one and only charging a fiver for its new video service, Apple is further compromising its premium image.

The roman numerals experiment is over, which means no more X in the iPhone nomenclature. Now we have the entry-level iPhone 11, the iPhone 11 Pro that has additional wide-angle and telephoto cameras on top of the regular one, and the iPhone 11 Pro Max, which is the same as the Pro but bigger. The most significant change, however, is the pricing of the 11, which is $50 less than the XR was last year at $699, which is also $100 less than the Google Pixel 3. The price of the other two phone remains the same.

On top of that the pricing of the new Apple TV+ SVOD service, which will launch on 1 November, has been announced at $5 per month, a lot cheaper than the standard Netflix package that costs $13 per month. The latter is a sensible acknowledgement that Apple TV+, which will only have original content, won’t have a fraction of the amount of stuff you can get from Netflix, while the phone pricing must surely be in response to increasing competitive pressure from the sub-premium market.

“With the tight integration between hardware, software and services, the advancements in iPhone 11 bring an unparalleled user experience at an affordable price to even more customers,” said Apple marketing boss Phil Schiller. “Apple TV+ is an unprecedented global video service with an all-original slate,” said Jamie Erlicht, Apple’s head of Worldwide Video. “We look forward to giving audiences everywhere the opportunity to enjoy these compelling stories within a rich, personalised experience on all the screens they love.”

The pricing angle has caught the attention of the commentariat. Bloomberg notes that not only is the iPhone 11 price cut significant, but the XR has had $150 knocked off it. “We view this as an admission that Apple stretched too far with the price points at last year’s launch,” Chris Caso, an Analyst at Raymond James & Associates, is quoted as saying in the Bloomberg piece.

On top of the aggressive price point for Apple TV+, anyone who buys a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Mac or iPod gets a year’s subscription for free, which is not just a great way for Apple to seed TV+ into its existing customer base, but provide a strong incentive for new sales too, so this is a smart move. Having said that it’s further evidence of Apple’s sudden willingness to sacrifice margin at the altar of market share.

We spoke to Ed Barton of analyst firm Ovum to get his take on the TV+ move. “The price point and a free year of access for new Apple device buyers are aggressive moves which will help drive early growth and usage,” said Barton. “But it’s still, by volume of content, a very limited video service with no catalogue content wholly reliant on new, untested intellectual properties.

“The strength of the Apple hardware and services ecosystem means that it practically can’t fail and a lot depends on how effectively and frequently Apple drops new shows to maintain viewers’ interest levels. Apple’s $6 billion production investment and its ability to surface and promote Apple Video content to a global audience of hundreds of millions throughout its tightly integrated hardware and software ecosystem give the service huge potential.”

On top of the phone and telly stuff Apple also unveiled the latest versions of its Watch and iPad in a mega-launch that it would previously have scattered throughout the year. Just as with the phones the new devices are largely spec upgrades, but we were reminded what a relative bargain the iPad is at just $329 (Apple is still charging $130 for a modem, for some reason, and it’s hard to see why anyone would pay that when they can just tether).

One other announcement was Apple Arcade, a gaming subscription service that Apple has been banging on about for a while. Just like TV+ it costs a fiver a month (although there’s no free subscription offer) and offers a smallish selection of exclusive games. People are less impressed with the games service though.

“It’s difficult to get excited about the games subscription, it does include some exclusive, new titles which didn’t appear particularly noteworthy from a gaming perspective,” said Barton. “Most of the games included didn’t sell well on a standalone basis so it’s difficult to see who this will appeal to. Perhaps there is a casual gamer segment which appreciates the simplicity of a subscription for a heavily curated selection of mobile games, but I won’t hold my breath.”

Since smartphone innovation has been stagnant for the best part of a decade, Apple decided to seek revenue and margin growth from flogging services to its installed base. Apple TV+ is a major step further in that direction, but the decision to be more aggressive on pricing is also a sensible strategy when it comes to expanding that installed base and thus the addressable market for its services.