The launch of the iPhone 6 is not long away now, its unveiling all but confirmed for September 9 with Apple having already announced a huge media event in Cupertino, California for that date It goes without saying that this latest Apple mobile device will sell like hot cakes. Already the anticipation for the iPhone 6 is massive, and the buzz surrounding the flagship Apple smartphone will only increase once the unveiling has taken place.
While a great deal of media coverage has been devoted to this elite handset, speculation and discussion regarding the price of the iPhone 6 has been fairly thin on the ground. So now seems like an ideal time to take a look at everything we know about the iPhone 6 price based on leaks, analyst opinion, any rumors that have emerged, and Apple’s behavior with regard to previous iterations of the iPhone.
iPhone 6 certain to emerge on September 9
Although the iPhone 6 has yet to even be confirmed by Apple, and the company certainly wasn’t giving much away with regard to its September media event in California, the actual existence of this device has been known about for many months. With the Apple share price having nosedived earlier in the year, it became an absolute certainty that the iPhone range would receive a very significant upgrade in 2014.
It has been believed for some time – and indeed all relevant information that has emanated from the supply chain of Apple has concurred with this notion – that the Apple iPhone 6 will be a massive reboot of the smartphone series. While the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C releases constituted more of a minor upgrade from the Apple iPhone 5 – as their names suggested – the iPhone 6 will be an entirely new device, and one that even departs from the previous iPhone formula to a certain extent.
With regards to price, there is no doubt that Apple can always charge a premium for its devices, at least for the foreseeable future. Although Samsung is a major competitor to Apple, and has made very ambitious statements regarding its intentions, Apple remains the world’s most fashionable consumer electronics brand by quite some considerable distance. Given that its unique business model of producing both hardware and software also enables its devices to be extremely slick in terms of operation, the iPhone still carries a kudos which no other mobile has matched.
Nonetheless, the iPhone 6 is being introduced into a smartphone world which is becoming increasingly competitive. Major Android rivals such as the LG G3 offer serious competition to Apple, and even though the iPhone 6 is guaranteed to reach a massive number of consumers, Apple will certainly need to consider the prevailing market conditions if it is to meet its forecasted sales figures for the smartphone.
Contract iPhone 6
Traditionally, Apple has launched iPhones at several major, stable price points. The premium model of any iPhone is usually priced at $199.99 on contract, while the largest variant of the smartphone in terms of storage is typically launched at $399.99. Recent rumors have indicated that Apple may release a 128 GB iPhone 6, which would be larger than any storage offered by the previous generation. This makes predicting the price slightly trickier, and it could indicate that the iPhone 6 will be the most expensive iteration of the flagship Apple handset yet.
However, the iPhone 5C has also been available at $99 on contract, in order to attract budget customers. This particular model of the iPhone was also particularly aimed at emerging markets, where Apple’s major rival Samsung is particularly popular. The iPhone 4S is also available free on contract, and it may be that once the iPhone 6 comes out that the iPhone 5C could switch to this role.
Although Samsung recently announced the Galaxy Note 4 and Galaxy Edge without being particularly forthcoming regarding pricing, Apple is known to go into great detail at its launch events. It seems highly unlikely that the September 9 event will pass without the corporation offering consumers specific price information.
The bad news at this point in time is that many observers are predicting that the iPhone 6 may retail at a significantly higher price than previous iPhones. For nearly a year now, financial analysts have predicted that the contractual iPhone 6 could retail at $100 more than previous models. This prediction was recently echoed by Raymond James analyst Tavis McCourt courtesy of WSJ’s MarketWatch, but only with regard to the larger 5.5-inch display version of the smartphone.
Off-contract iPhone 6
The off-contract price is much more difficult to predict. What can be said with certainty is that all of the information linking out of Apple’s supply chain indicates that this will be an expensive iPhone to produce. At least one model of the iPhone 6 will be constructed primarily from Sapphire Glass, which is a departure from previous iterations that utilised Gorilla Glass.
Thus, there are differing opinions on the retail price of the iPhone 6. Nomura Securities suggest that the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 could be priced at $100 more than the smaller model, and that the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 will cost $650. A Spanish analyst suggests a price around 750 for the 4.7-inch model and 950 Euros for the larger 5.5-inch model. Meanwhile, the Sydney Morning Herald is predicting today that the iPhone 6 will retail for around $1,000 in Australia.
All evidence points to a more expensive iPhone 6, so despite the enduring popularity of Apple it will need to pull something outstanding out of the bag with this latest release.
