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Why your new iPhone is more expensive

And it's not just the iPhone that's going to cost you more.
Written by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, Contributing Writer
iPhone pricing

iPhone pricing structure announced at the iPhone 8/iPhone X launch

It came to many as a surprise that Apple raised the price of not only the new iPhone 8/8 Plus at the launch event by $50, but also the new Apple TV 4K saw a $30 price hike.

But why?

Must read: Buying a new iPhone just got more expensive

No, it's not Apple being greedy and adding to its bottom line (really), it's down to the fact that the price for flash storage has increased dramatically during 2017.

In fact, over the first half of 2017, the price of NAND flash rose by 26 percent in China, and this shows no sign of reversing during the remainder of the year.

The price increases are being driven by shortages, and don't just devices such as smartphones, but also SSDs and anything that contains flash storage.

So it seems like ahead of the launch of the new iPhones -- and in advance of the quarter that will see Apple shift tens of millions of units -- Apple has taken the decision to readjust prices to take this NAND price increase into consideration.

But not every iPhone saw a price rise -- the price of the iPhone SE was cut by $50, which means that now Apple has iPhones for sale that range from +$999 to $349. And it's important to note that $349 is the lowest entry price for an iPhone in the US to date.

Here is the current iPhone lineup that Apple offers:

  • iPhone X: $999
  • iPhone 8 Plus: $799
  • iPhone 8: $699
  • iPhone 7 Plus: $669
  • iPhone 7: $549
  • iPhone 6s Plus: $549
  • iPhone 6s: $449
  • iPhone SE: $349

Apple also increased pricing for the two highest iPad Pro storage configurations by $50.

If we see NAND prices fall next year, we could see Apple cut prices -- something that it could do in during the more quiet quarters to give sales an uplift -- and we might see the first sub-$300 iPhone being offered.

Apple's A11 Bionic processor

See also:

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