The move to steer consumers to premium models has worked phenomenally for Apple in recent years, boosting revenue and profit even when the number of devices sold has been stagnant. Potential price increases will help pay for growing component costs because of inflation, but some analysts have warned that the strategy will soon hit a ceiling.
“The Pros have probably reached their saturation point,” said Josh Lowitz, a co-founder of Consumer Intelligence Research Partners. “I don’t think there are a ton of new iPhone Pro customers.”
You know, because nobody ever gets born, graduates college, gets a new job, so how could there be “a ton of new iPhone Pro customers?”
As Apple prepares for the iPhone 15 launch, its challenge will be to convince customers that the Pro features are enough to warrant a pricey upgrade.
“It’s becoming harder and harder for consumers to distinguish what the new Pro features are,” said Michael Gartenberg, a senior director on Apple’s marketing team before leaving in 2016, who is now an independent technology adviser. “For most users, the iPhone 13 is going to be good enough, and the base iPhone camera takes good enough pictures.”
