Perhaps, considering the general slump of Apple's latest keynote, you were already in a state of complete mental torpor when Lisa Jackson took the stage towards the end of the event to talk about sustainability. Among some measures highlighted by Ma's vice president of social, political and environmental initiatives, one called attention: build iPhones that last longer and longer.
At first glance, such a phrase as well as another said afterwards, that “keeping iPhones in use the best thing for the planet” may sound like an empty political campaign promise. What company, after all, would be interested in selling devices that last longer than those of the competition (or its own from the past) considering that the bulk of its revenue comes from selling new hardware? Balela, huh?
Well, according to this analysis of Horace Dediu, published in Asymco, at the. The analyst, as well as who was still paying attention, was surprised by the content of Jackson's speech and imagined that investors could turn a nose at her, but, in a more sophisticated analysis, the idea of ​​striving to make longer-lived iPhones good in not only for the consumer or for the planet, but also for Apple itself economically speaking, same.
The key to this equation is the fact that the most durable iPhones are also more expensive and, as we know, the average price of an iPhone has been making a very sharp upward curve: just over a year ago, the most expensive iPhone available ( iPhone 7 Plus 256GB) was priced at $ 970; now, the most expensive model (iPhone XS Max 512GB) costs no less than $ 1,450.
Even though devices cost more, Dediu said, Apple can build this image of smartphones that last longer and therefore convince consumers that, in the end, spend less in your ecosystem than in the competition's (changing a $ 1,100 smartphone every four years is better than changing a $ 700 smartphone every two years, after all). With this, the company not only paints an ecologically correct image as it builds an even more solid base of loyal users, who will not exchange iPhones for anything in this world in his opinion, of course.
And this loyal user base is just what Apple wants most at the moment: with the company's service sector growing by leaps and bounds, having customers who will remain in Ma's ecosystem indefinitely guarantees that these consumers will spend money on all the elements that surround them the iPhone experience. And we're not just talking about iCloud or Apple Music, but also Apple Watch, AirPods, HomePod and limited company accessories.
Ultimately, Apple is betting on having customers, rather than just selling products to them, Dediu said. Whether the strategy is going to work or not, of course, just time to date, it seems to me that things have been going very well for Apple in that sense. Opinions?
