Apple Music Bundles for iPhone 8 Buyers? Don't Count on It
Rumors have long suggested Apple’s “iPhone 8” will cost upwards of $1,000. Convinced people won’t buy a smartphone at this price, Barclays analysts think Apple may sweeten the pot by offering Apple Music bundles with iPhone 8 purchases, according to Business Insider.
According to the report, Apple could include a free year of Apple Music and 200GB of iCloud storage, which would translate into $9.8 billion (£7.6 billion) in extra iPhone revenue in 2018.
The bundle would make sense for Apple: It convinces more people to buy the expensive new iPhone (win), and it could introduce more people to Apple’s subscription services (another win!)
Barclays estimates that Apple would cover the cost of giving away the services through the increase in iPhone sales. “We estimate incremental profits generated from higher iPhone 8 sales could outweigh additional costs, achieving gross profit accretion of $1.3bn, despite 1.8 pts of margin % dilution,” the analysts wrote in the note.
I can’t imagine Apple will offer some sort of bundle to increase iPhone 8 sales because they won’t need to. The iPhone 8 has long been plagued by production delays, which means demand for the company’s next flagship device should far exceed supply for many months to come.
Besides, bundles aren’t typically Apple’s style, right?
Cupertino’s likely to unveil three new iPhones on Sept. 12. Until then, stay tuned.