Not that I'm defending the price, but how long will the S9 receive updates for - if at all?

How much will a S9 resell for vs the XR?

I think Apple are getting to the point now where they can't continue to increase the price of the phone every year and expect consumers to be OK with it.

I prefer using iOS over Android, I just do. But I'm not going to spend $1500 ish on a phone of any variant - it's just too much money, and not enough actual beneficial functions over an older cheaper model.

Personally feel it's a plateau in technology development, and what's on offer now is good enough. 
Like say digital camera sensors etc, there's now incremental improvements each year, rather than the dramatic improvement in capabilities.

My older iPhone whatsapps, web browsers, shoots in 4k etc.  I see little practical need to warrant that sort of outlay frankly.

Maybe people are finally waking up to Apple's greed?

Although they have gone up in price, part of the problem is NZs weak dollar compared to the USD. But haven't increased as much as house prices in NZ. But iphones are also supported with ios updates for longer these days than they previously were. The iphone 5s for example is still getting updates. I remember my Samsung S flagship model, I was lucky to get a couple of years of updates. That is possibily why hey drop quite a bit in price within the first year. Also the new model is coming out soon, but I don't know why people would spend a premium on the S10 when the S9 is a pretty decent phone for a lot less. Apple doesn't end to drop the price of older models by anywhere near the same amount. 

dfnt:

 

 

 

I think Apple are getting to the point now where they can't continue to increase the price of the phone every year and expect consumers to be OK with it.

 

If they didn't do that, they may have not ended up making as much much money. They can now sell less units but make more money. The problem is that less and less people seem to be upgrading, as phones seem to have reached a plateau in terms of features people want. 

RunningMan:

 

I prefer using iOS over Android, I just do. But I'm not going to spend $1500 ish on a phone of any variant - it's just too much money, and not enough actual beneficial functions over an older cheaper model.

 

Thats me. $1400 was the standard price for the top model. Maybe a tickle less. For years. 

My X was $2k I think. Any phone these days as smaller and smaller incremental improvements. So I got my X to replace my 3yo 6+ that I gave to a family member. If not, I'd still have it. 

The iPhone never improved by $1400 to $2000 , the sales dropped, the margin dropped so they just fixed that. The KoolAid fix only goes so far...

Loismustdye: As a iPhone fanboy they are way too dear.
My 7+ works great still and the features of the new models are simply nowhere enough to justify the now stupid pricing.
When my 7+ dies I’ll be getting an older non-current model iPhone, ideally a refurbished one. I’ve got better and more important things to spend $2 grand on than a phone.

Well said. I bought every one from the 4S, it's now JUST A PHONE

The battery replacement program has probably made people more aware they can make phone last longer/ improve performance by changing battery.

New phones as well as price have no home button so guessing everything has to be done by gestures, on ipad pro, cheaper then latest iphones, I've tried gestures, they work but sometimes get it wrong and not as comfortable as just pressing a button once or twice quickly.

When my 3-4 year old phone gives up the ghost, I'll probably look for an older model Apple one, will see what's available Android as well, just with Apple know will get all updates and they support their devices for many years.

The actual decrease in total iPhone sales are due to a suspected recession in China. Just look at the other smart phone producers and their numbers.

Samsung took a much bigger hit than Apple in that market.

That said, the iPhones have gotten to a point now where you can keep the phone for a lot longer, and the cheap battery replacement program they had in 2018 helped to keep them alive even longer.

Personally I have gone from buying a new iPhone every year, to buying a new one every other year, and not feeling any pain in missing out of features or a phone that feels too slow.

dafman:

 

A practical example, currently at Noel Leeming:

 

iPhone XR $1,479

 

Samsung Galaxy S9 $899

 

The best part of $600 price difference and, arguably, the S9 packs the better hardware specs.

 

The thing is that the XR isn't really their flagship model either, that is the XS. The XR is a bit of a compromise to keep the price lower. You are paying the best part of 3k if you want a full spec'd iphone XS Max with apple care

I wouldn't move to another brand because I have various Apple devices set up with home automation, Apple Music, iCloud, various apps, etc. and I don't have sufficient IT skills to migrate all that stuff across to another platform.

However there's no way I'm going to spend $2k on a new iPhone given the product quality issues that I have experienced over the last couple of years. I'll stick to my existing iPhone, thanks very much. 

dafman:

 

A practical example, currently at Noel Leeming:

 

iPhone XR $1,479

 

Samsung Galaxy S9 $899

 

The best part of $600 price difference and, arguably, the S9 packs the better hardware specs.

1) Market saturation.

2) They provide up to 5 years of software updates thus making your phone still useful even 3 years after buying it.

3) Lack of really compelling features to upgrade - it's gone from 1-2 year upgrade cycles to 2-3 and sometimes 4 year upgrade cycles.

Keeping in mind that the Samsung Galaxy S9 has been out for longer than the iPhone XR plus Samsung's tendency to push volume over margins so they're happy to cut prices and offer deals to keep the volume moving.

I'd be tempted to buy a Samsung phone if Samsung didn't have a tendency to throw customers under the bus 12 months after launching their products along with actually delivering security updates on time - they still haven't delivered Android Pie to devices in New Zealand. When a vendor treats their customers with such disregard I have to ask why anyone would have such loyalty to such a company.