Chief Executive Tim Cook didn’t show off \u201cone more thing\u201d on Wednesday, but he did have one new Apple Inc. offering to share: reasonable pricing.<\/p>\n
Apple AAPL, \u201cIt was a shock, I thought a $100 price increase was a foregone conclusion,\u201d said Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities. \u201cApple read the room and Cook didn’t want to raise prices.\u201d <\/p>\n At the very least, analysts expected Apple to increase prices on its top-end smartphones, the iPhone Pro and Pro Max. Maribel Lopez, principal analyst at Lopez Research, said she had been hearing talk of price hikes up to several hundred dollars that would \u201cfork the line,\u201d or allow greater separation between lower-priced and premium offerings. <\/p>\n \u201cThis was their opportunity, they were going to fork the line, and have very affordable and very flagship, and that was surprising that didn’t happen,\u201d Lopez said. \u201cI think that is the right move. It’s becoming difficult to get people to upgrade, they hold onto them longer, they are not inexpensive.\u201d <\/p>\n The concern for investors from this move would be Apple’s profit margin. Record inflation has not just hit consumers \u2014 electronics manufacturers are seeing higher prices and uncertain supply of many components. The 15-year-old iPhone family is still Apple’s biggest revenue and profit generator, even as it is a mature product, so a margin decline would be felt acutely on the overall bottom line. <\/p>\n Lopez and Ives said the move should not be too much of a drag on Apple’s margins, however, thanks to strength with suppliers and a move toward using Apple’s own semiconductors. <\/p>\n \u201cThey have more control over their supply chain,\u201d Ives said, adding that \u201cthe Apple silicon gives them flexibility.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEverything being an A or an M chip, that allows them a certain flexibility,\u201d Lopez said. \u201cIt’s a classic vertical integration strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n Apple unveiled some new offerings that were not price-related, mostly features targeted at increasingly specific audiences, such as the Apple Ultra Watch for serious fitness enthusiasts. But Cook again didn’t take the opportunity to use co-founder Steve Jobs’ product-launch catchphrase, \u201cone more thing,\u201d at the end of an unveiling to show off the next big product \u2014 even though Apple may have a big launch on the way.<\/p>\n Apple reportedly is working on three sets of augmented\/virtual-reality glasses, with one expected to launch next year and compete with Meta Platforms Inc.’s META, But Apple never shows off the next big thing without a fully formed product ready to roll. So instead, Cook is just trying to keep consumers happy with new iPhones \u2014 at flat prices with better cameras, longer battery life and new features \u2014 until its next foray is actually ready.<\/p>\n That doesn’t do much for investors, though. They are still wondering when they will get a glimpse at the next device they are betting on, and will have to worry about the possibility of declining margins while they wait. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Chief Executive Tim Cook didn’t show off \u201cone more thing\u201d on Wednesday, but he did have one new Apple Inc. offering to share: reasonable pricing. Apple AAPL, +0.93% has long shown a willingness to charge premium prices for its iPhones, including breaking the $1,000 barrier a few years back with the iPhone X, and was …<\/p>\n
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\n has long shown a willingness to charge premium prices for its iPhones, including breaking the $1,000 barrier a few years back with the iPhone X, and was expected to increase prices on the smartphones again with the iPhone 14 unveiling on Wednesday. Cook kept the price the same as the last two iPhone models, however, and even added in some other deals: Free satellite emergency service for two years, and an update to Apple Care+ to remove a limit on the number of repairs each year.<\/p>\n
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\n Oculus offerings. It would be only the second major product category to launch under Cook’s leadership, beside the Apple Watch.<\/p>\n