IPhone XS buyers undeterred by high prices, few upgrades

Bloomberg

The iPhone XS is as much as $200 more expensive than last year’s already pricey iPhone X and represents one of the smallest advances in the product line’s history. But that means little to the Apple Inc. faithful or those seeking to upgrade their older iPhone.
Hundreds of consumers lined up at Apple stores around the world either the previous day or in the early hours before the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max went on sale. Many consumers were seen lining up at the Orchard Road store in Singapore despite the hot weather.
Other outlets, such as the IFC mall in Hong Kong, had much shorter lines as sales were largely restricted to those who had pre-ordered.
The global smartphone industry has stalled at about 1.5 billion devices sold each year. But the annual theater of iPhone launch day remains a bright spot. For Apple in particular, the length of lines have becoming less important as it sells more phones online and adjusts its business model.
Rather than persuading users to upgrade to the most-advanced, expensive phone each year, Apple’s goal these days is to steadily raise average prices, while expanding the total number of active devices to support sales of accessories and digital services like streaming music and video.
This year, many consumers ordered online so that they got their devices delivered on launch day.
But those who missed the opening of pre-orders last week have to visit a physical store to get one on the first day.
In the US, new online iPhone XS orders aren’t scheduled to arrive until between October 5 and Octobeer 12. Wait times are similar in Hong Kong and Australia, while deliveries are taking one to two weeks in Mainland China.
In Palo Alto, California, Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook greeted buyers while wearing an Apple Store employee uniform, as has been his custom for several years.
At the Apple Store on Fifth Avenue in New York, one of the world’s most popular locations, 406 people were lined up ahead of doors opening for the iPhone XS, compared with 821 who lined up last year at that store for the iPhone X, according to Gene Munster of Loup Ventures. Last year, 293 people waited in line for the iPhone 8.
According to a survey of people in line conducted Friday by Loup Ventures, 70 percent of respondents were seeking to buy the iPhone XS Max, a model that ranges in price from $1,099 to $1,449. That was surprising because in previous years about 55 percent of consumers opted for the larger screen size, according to Munster.
At the Century City store in Los Angeles, roughly 50 people were lined up for the phones before business hours.
About 250 people were queuing to enter Apple’s flagship store on Regent Street. At least one person began waiting in line the day earlier, but most people Bloomberg spoke with said they’d been standing for about an hour.
This year’s models include support for dual SIM cards for the first time, a popular feature on Android devices in Asia. That’s what appealed to Li Jun, who works for a trading company in Guangzhou and travelled to Hong Kong to pick up an iPhone XS for $1,265.
“iPhone XS is expensive for me, but I just can’t resist the new dual SIMs feature,” Li said.