The WSJ’s Sketchy iPhone Pricing Article
“Apple is weighing price increases for its fall iPhone lineup, a step it is seeking to couple with new features and design changes, according to people familiar with the matter.
The company is determined to avoid any scenario in which it appears to attribute price increases to U.S. tariffs on goods from China, where most Apple devices are assembled, the people said.
The U.S. and China agreed Monday to suspend most of the tariffs they had imposed on each other in a tit-for-tat trade war. But a 20% tariff that President Trump imposed early in his second term on Chinese goods, citing what he said was Beijing’s role in the fentanyl trade, remains in place and covers smartphones.
Trump had exempted smartphones and some other electronics products from a separate ‘reciprocal’ tariff on Chinese goods, which will temporarily fall to 10% from 125% under Monday’s trade deal.
New iPhones set to be released in the fall include some design and format changes, including an ultrathin design, The Wall Street Journal has reported.”
Nothing found in this article makes me think the WSJ knows what Apple may or may not do with this year’s new flagship iPhones. The WSJ’s “sources” in the supply chain are not going to know Apple’s iPhone pricing strategy. Apple pricing rumors should be discounted in general as Apple is able to keep pricing information under wraps.
For the past few years, price increases have been rumored ahead of Apple’s busy fall release cycle.
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