Paul Morris·

iPhone 8 Price To Start From $850 Instead Of $1000 [Report]

Apple’s speculated iPhone 8 is expected to not only feature a radical new design complete with an OLED display and a built-in Touch ID Home button in screen, but it’s also expected to come with a radical price with some insiders suggesting a price-tag of upwards of $1,000.

UBS analyst, Steven Milunovich, agrees with that price point for the high-end 256GB version of the introduced device, but expects an entry-level version of the hardware to cost somewhere around the $850 mark, keeping in line with Samsung’s new flagship, the Galaxy S8+.

There’s still a passionate debate going on about the device itself. Those involved in the consumer technology industry, as well as those impassioned consumers looking to embrace Apple’s new hardware, are still debating whether or not we will see an iPhone 8, iPhone Pro, or iPhone Edition – referencing the fact that it’s the tenth anniversary of the device – and are still undecided on the specifications of the device.

The expected price point is also a large area of contention for those interested in the new Apple smartphone.

Apple will be keen to push iPhone 8 as a premium, luxury device, and will therefore want to price it as such. The UBS analyst believes that the Cupertino-based company will take advantage of what is being called a “mainstream luxury” pricing strategy, which essentially means that the hardware will be priced alongside other premium devices, such as the Galaxy S8+, and will be marketed to appeal to the high-end market, but will still offer a model which is affordable to those who want to make a bump up from the likes of iPhone 7 Plus.

That strategy could see a 64GB version of the iPhone 8 starting at around the $850-$900 mark, according to Mulinovich.

Contrary to some perceptions, Apple prices quite competitively. Apple likes to position its entry-level products at the mid-market with “Pro/Plus” products close to competitors at the high end. Therefore, we do not think Apple will stray far from the price point of Samsung’s most expensive model at $840-850 and will keep the entry OLED model at $850-900. Apple’s 256GB OLED model could be $950-1,000, but the 256GB 7 Plus already is $970.

Samsung has already done the hard work by announcing a new flagship which essentially sets the tone for what consumers will see as a premium, high-end device for 2017.

The early benchmarks for that device aren’t exactly impressive, and taking history into account, it’s likely that iPhone 8 will outperform it, but it’s also likely that Apple will introduce a new flagship mirroring a lot of the features found in the S8 and S8+, such as wireless charging, an OLED display, and the removal of the iconic physical Home / Touch ID button.

(Via: MacRumors, Top image: iPhone 8 and iOS 11 concept)

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