Will iPhone 15 be the most expensive smartphone in Apple's history?

The iPhone 15 has significantly higher manufacturing costs. Photo: 4RMD

Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives predicts a 10-20% price increase across the entire iPhone 15 lineup this year, meaning the base iPhone 15 will start at $899, $100 more than the $799 starting price of the entry-level iPhone 14. The iPhone 15 Pro will also increase from $999 (in 2022) to $1,100 or $1,200.

According to Business Insider, the biggest increase is for the iPhone 15 Pro Max. The price of this year's top-of-the-line device could start at $1,300 and go up to $1,800 for the 1TB storage version.

This could be Apple’s most expensive iPhone ever, and one of the most expensive flat-screen smartphones on the market. The most expensive phones right now are mostly foldables, like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4, which starts at $1,800 for the 256GB version and $2,159 for the 1TB version.

Digital Trends said the price increase could be due to rising manufacturing costs and inflation. Instead of taking a loss, Apple will absorb the increased costs into the user's purchase price.

Industry experts believe that the upcoming iPhone 15 series will use a lot of new components due to the major change in specifications. Therefore, the product will increase at least 10% compared to the old price to meet the supply chain costs. Foxconn, Pegatron, TSMC and Largan are contract manufacturers to produce the iPhone 15 in the second half of this year.

Switching from Lightning to USB-C is the reason why the iPhone 15 price increased. Photo: Bloomberg

Last year, due to rising component costs and inflation, the price of the iPhone 14 also increased in some major markets around the world. Specifically, the iPhone 14 increased in price by $80 in the UK, $33 in Australia, $146 in Japan, and $100 in Germany. Therefore, Economic Daily News believes that the same situation will continue this year. The highest increase was $200 for the iPhone 15 Pro Max line. This is also the highest price increase in Apple's history.

Analyst Dan Ives has been right about the pricing of previous iPhone generations. He expects the average selling price of the iPhone 15, Pro, and Pro Max models to be around $925, which is $100 more than the average selling price of iPhone generations over the past 18 months.

LeaksApplePro, an anonymous source who often leaks accurate information about Apple products, also revealed that this year's iPhone will increase in price. "The device will cost significantly more to manufacture than the iPhone 14 Pro Max," he informed, without giving a specific number. According to Forbes' prediction, although it is not clear how much the cost will increase, the source shows that the iPhone 15 will likely increase in price significantly.

Explaining the reason for the iPhone 15 price increase, Dan Ives said that it could be because Apple had to change the traditional Lightning port to Type C to comply with EU regulations. In addition, the iPhone has not increased its price in the US market since 2017, so this could be the time Apple decided to change.

According to experts, the OLED screen is the most expensive component of the iPhone, which can cost up to $80. The camera and processor are next. Therefore, the price of iPhone 15 components may increase compared to last year.

Ives said that about 250 million iPhone users have not changed to a new phone in the past 4 years. Therefore, he expects iPhone 15 sales this year to be between 235 and 240 million devices. Demand for iPhone 15 may also increase thanks to the new Apple smartphone line with Type-C instead of the traditional Lightning port.

Source Zing

Source link