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Sept 7 (Reuters) – Apple Inc ( AAPL.O ) avoided price hikes for its best-selling iPhones on Wednesday during its biggest product launch of the year, focusing on security updates rather than striking new technical specifications, with the exception of a new adventure – centered watch.
The iPhone maker leaned on safety technologies like the ability to detect a car crash and call a rescue from a remote mountain to add appeal to its devices. Apple positioned itself as the brand to enable users to pursue excitement and adventure, with a safety net.
Those intangible features “are the things that make you not only want the products for yourself, but for loved ones,” said Ben Bajarin, head of consumer technology at Creative Strategies. “Ultimately, the growing emphasis on security, security as a service, is very interesting as a value proposition.”
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The iPhone line that drives half of Apple’s sales got tweaks to cameras and battery life, though only the iPhone Pro line got an upgrade to an all-new processor chip.
Prices for the high-end iPhone 14s are the same as last year’s iPhone 13 models. But Apple dropped its cheapest option, the iPhone Mini, meaning its lowest-priced model now costs $100 more than last year.
The iPhone 14 will start at $799 and the iPhone 14 Plus at $899 and will be available for pre-order starting September 9. The iPhone Pro will cost $999 and the iPhone Pro Max $1,099 and will be available on September 16. read more
“They basically decided to hold prices despite the inflationary pressure,” said Tom Forte, an analyst at DA Davidson.
Nintendo ( 7974.T ) and T-Mobile ( TMUS.O ) have also said they will hold off on price increases.
Apple said its satellite SOS feature will work with emergency responders. It also said users will be able to use its FindMy app to share their satellite location when they don’t have other connectivity.
New products are on display at an Apple event at its headquarters in Cupertino, California, U.S., September 7, 2022. REUTERS/Carlos Barria
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The service will be free for two years with the iPhone 14. Apple did not say what would happen after that period.
Shares of Globalstar Inc ( GSAT.A ) surged 20% on Wednesday after the satellite services company announced it will be the satellite operator for Apple’s emergency SOS service. Read more
The Cupertino, Calif.-based company also showed off a trio of new Apple Watches, including a new Watch Ultra model aimed at extreme sports and diving and designed to challenge sports watch specialists such as Garmin ( GRMN.BN ) and polar
“Apple is competing for a segment of consumers that already has a strong loyalty to its existing products and vendors, and will have to prove itself over time,” said Canalys analyst Runar Bjorhovde.
As for the watch, the $799 Ultra has a bigger battery to last in events like triathlons and better waterproofing and temperature resistance to function in outdoor environments, as well as better GPS tracking for sports.
All the watches – which include a Series 8 priced the same as last year and an updated, cheaper SE model – and the new iPhones will have the ability to detect when a user has been in a serious car accident and call the services of emergency
The new Series 8 watch has a temperature sensor that will retroactively detect ovulation. The company emphasized the privacy approach of its cycle tracker. Data privacy and reproductive health have become a focus for tech companies in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court decision that ended the constitutional right to abortion in the United States.
But while accessories like the Apple Watch have driven incremental sales from Apple’s existing user base, the iPhone remains the bedrock of its business with 52.4% of sales in its last fiscal year , and investors continue to wonder what, if anything, the company’s next major product category will be.
Analysts expect that category to be a mixed reality headset that could hit the market as soon as next year, but Apple gave no indication of those potential products on Wednesday.
Apple shares closed up 0.9%, lagging the S&P 500’s 1.8% gain for the session.
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Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Additional reporting by Nivedita Balu, Vansh Agarwal, Shivansh Tiwary, Karina Dsouza, Richard Rohan Francis, Kanika Sikka and Aditya Soni in Bangalore and Noel Randewich in Oakland, California; Editing by Peter Henderson and Lisa Shumaker
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