Apple should have never skipped iPhone 9. The X branding never really made sense to me. Was it a special edition? Do I call it “ex” or “ten”? What happened to 9? Will there be a 9 that comes after X?
Apple is in a unique position in that they sell really high margin products but they can’t ignore the lower end because market share matters for the services revenue. That means they work really hard to serve every price point of the market. They can’t just expect the lower end to be satisfied by older models. Some people want new and shiny but can’t afford the highest end. So I get why they released the iPhone 8 at the same time as the iPhone X and the XR at the same time as the XS. But the branding sucked. It made some people who bought the X at launch feel like snobby elites. I know a couple of friends that were apologetic about buying it. They wanted it and could afford it but something felt elitist about the X and they knew it.
That’s why the Pro branding is so genius! Now the regular iPhone 11 doesn’t feel like a budget phone. It’s the top of the line consumer version. But the Pro is even better, and it doesn’t feel elitist. You “need” the pro because you take pictures for business or for whatever reason you want to come up with. No more apologizing, just rationalizing.
One top of this Apple lowered the prices, which I believe has as much to do with the fact that their competition for new devices is the customer’s existing older iPhone. iPhones have a very long useful life, and I believe Apple is betting that they can get more upgrades with lower prices and thus their overall profit will be greater.