Lower Apple iPhone X 2018 price tipped by Morgan Stanley
Analysts consensus pegs the iPhone X Plus to start at $999, X 2018 at $899, and the LCD version at $599-$699
Where there is smoke, there could be fire, and Apple may indeed be changing its pricing structure for the expected 2018 trio of new iPhones. It was reputed Apple observer Kuo who first tipped new price brackets for Apple's upcoming fall crop.
The iPhone X sequel, he claimed, carrying a 5.8" OLED screen, is to be priced in the range of $800 to $900, depending on the storage configuration. The X Plus version of the phone, carrying an eventual 6.5" OLED panel, was tipped to cost $900 to $1000, while he envisions the "affordable" model, with a 6.1" LCD display, to be priced at $600 to $700.
A top Morgan Stanley analyst has now run the numbers how the new tags will affect Apple's average selling price (ASP) metric, and arrived roughly at the same conclusion as Kuo. She, however, is firm on a $999 starting price for the largest iPhone Apple has ever built, as the most plausible scenario. Running down the ladder will be the 2018 iPhone X sequel at $799, and the LCD iPhone could start at $699-$769, depending on the prediction model she uses. In this case, Morgan Stanley's head of research argues, Apple's ASP can swing 2% up or down from the record numbers last quarter, depending on the mix Apple manages to sell.
In the worst-case scenario (worst for consumers, that is), the analytical arm models a X Plus starting at $1099, an iPhone X 2018 at $999, and an LCD iPhone at $799, which would mean a whopping 7.2% growth in ASP. Apple, however, has seemingly hit the ceiling of what users are willing to pay for its iPhones with the X, and is more likely to retract or fill that niche with a more premium device, than simply raise prices. Where do all thеse analyst reports leave the original prediction for a 6.1" iPhone starting at $550 even? Well, let's not forget that Apple may issue a dual SIM model for the first time, and it is precisely the LCD handset that might land in two configurations, the dual SIM one probably destined for the Asian markets.
Apple's average selling price hit a record of $652 in 2017, and the sales of the iPhone X, as well as the new notch-y handsets that will take its place, are expected to push it to the whopping $738 in the current fiscal year, which is a rather dreamy scenario for Apple, given that folks are keeping their handsets longer, and the breakneck pace of smartphone market growth is slowly abating.
source: MarketWatch
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