Following the news (Tuesday 10 September) that Apple introduced the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro;

Lynnette Luna, Principal Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers her view on Apple’s iPhone announcements:

“Apple demonstrated that it needs to cater to consumer preferences by cutting the introductory price of the new iPhone 11 to $700 compared with $750 for last year’s comparable model, the XR. Moreover, the starting prices of its more advanced models, the iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max, are priced at $1,000 and $1,100, which was unexpected as Apple has continually raised the prices of its smartphones.

“However, smartphone upgrade trends have slowed as consumers balk at purchasing premium devices that start at more than $1,000. In consumers’ minds, these expensive models have lacked the differentiation and innovation to justify the spend. As a result, people have been hanging on to their phones longer, up to an average of four years or more.

“The question with this new range of iPhones is whether consumers will find enough value to upgrade to a new phone or wait until 2020, when Apple is expected to introduce 5G-enabled smartphones, which will be capable of transmitting faster data speeds. The primary selling point for the iPhone 11 line is better camera features. Each of the new phones has a new camera lens – which puts these devices on par with many Android smartphones already in the market.

“However, with a dual lens and other improved camera features, the iPhone 11 at this lower price point may be the device that aggressively drives sales for Apple. Apple’s lowest-priced smartphone in 2018 was the iPhone XR, and it was the best-selling iPhone last year. We are seeing a trend among smartphone vendors aiming to pack more high-end features into lower-priced smartphones to drive more sales.”