According to astute Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the giant will further differentiate its „Pro“ and non-„Pro“ iPhone models with the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro starting next year.
In a series of tweets earlier yesterday, Kuo said that further differentiation of the iPhone lineup will boost sales of the „Pro“ models. To that end, Kuo believes that „Apple will also begin to create differentiation between the iPhone 15 Pro Max and iPhone 15 Pro,“ using a „precision product segmentation strategy to generate more sales/profits in a mature market.“
This differentiation is likely to come about by giving different features to individual devices in the iPhone 15 lineup, providing more reasons for higher sales of the iPhone models next year. The only differentiating features between the iPhone 14 and 14 Plus and the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max are display size and battery life.
It’s not yet clear how the capabilities might be broken down across the iPhone 15 lineup, with some features like Dynamic Island expected to roll out to the entire selection of devices, but the iPhone 15 Pro Max could be the only model to feature a periscope telephoto camera system.
It is believed that one of the reasons why Apple has been able to do this „even though hardware innovation has become more challenging and the market has matured“ is because „the Android camp does not yet pose a threat to Apple in the high-end market ” because of brand value and ecosystem flaws. That being said, Kuo adds that Qualcomm’s transfer of high-end chips for Android devices to be made by Samsung to TSMC, which is also Apple’s chip supplier, as well as an aggressive push into flexible phones, could help Android to regain its positions in the coming years.