Apple's new iPhone 11 is $50 cheaper than last year's model, despite Trump's planned tariffs on Chinese imports
- President Donald Trump's planned 15% increase in tariffs on Chinese imports doesn't seem to have affected Apple's pricing strategy.
- On Tuesday, Apple announced this year's lineup of iPhone models, including pricing.
- At $700, the iPhone 11 is $50 less than the equivalent iPhone from last year's lineup - the $750 iPhone XR.
- The iPhone 11 Pro phones are the same price as the $1,000 iPhone XS and $1,100 iPhone XS Max launched in 2018.
- The tariff increases aren't said to go into effect until December. It's unclear if Apple is absorbing the cost of the increase tariffs taking effect in December.
- Apple experienced declining iPhone sales in 2018, which some say is a result of rising iPhone prices.
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Apple unveiled the $700 iPhone 11, the $1,000 iPhone 11 Pro, and the $,1,000 iPhone 11 Pro Max during its annual September event at the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino, California.
The iPhone 11 is $50 cheaper than last year's equivalent iPhone, the $750 iPhone XR. The iPhone 11 Pro devices are the same price as the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max when they were launched in 2018.
That price drop for the cheapest model, and the staying of the course with the higher-end models, comes even under the shadow of the 15% tariff increase proposed by President Donald Trump on Chinese imports, including Apple products, reported by Bloomberg.
Trump's tariffs aren't said to affect Apple's iPhone prices until December, but Apple apparently hasn't baked in the extra tariffs into its new iPhone pricing. It's unclear if Apple will raise the price of its iPhones in December - when the tariffs go into effect - or whether the company will simply absorb the costs. Analysts at Morgan Stanley said Apple is more likely to absorb the tariffs, the firm wrote in a report from May.
Apple experienced a decline in iPhone sales in 2018, which some say is a result of rising iPhone prices. Offering cheaper iPhones despite any rising tariffs may bring those sales numbers back up.
CEO Tim Cook has been a staunch opponent of the tariffs, suggesting that they may actually hurt American companies like Apple itself, and that they could help its Korean competitor, Samsung.