UBS Predicts OLED iPhone Pricing Starts At $900

UBS, via Business Insider:

“Apple tends not to price far from the high end competition,” the analysts wrote. “With the Galaxy Plus at $840 and the Note at [almost] $950, we think a $900 price tag for the base OLED model makes sense.”

Apple doesn’t price their products in a vacuum but it’s not magnetically attached to what Samsung is doing, either. I think what UBS is overlooking here is that the ‘7s’ iterative models will keep Apple competitive at the same price tiers they always have. The OLED phone doesn’t have to fight off all cheaper competition; if you want a ‘normal priced’ new phone you can consider getting a 7s or 7s Plus.

The OLED iPhone is clearly going to be positioned as a premium device that appeals to anyone interested in buying brand new iPhones. In my mind, this means it has to be more expensive than the most expensive iPhone that exists today. That’s the floor. The ceiling is the level of affordability that allows Apple to attract the millions upon millions of sales they want, for people that want to stretch their wallets.

That means Apple will start pricing above what the maxed-out 256 GB iPhone 7 Plus costs today, $969, but not too much more. With those conditions, $999 for a 64 GB iPhone 8/Edition/whatever seems right to me. The higher end storage tiers would add another $100 like always. Every current iPhone user pays at least a little bit more for the new best model but it isn’t wildly out of reach to anyone either.