Apple hasn’t raised the price of the iPhone in the U.S. since 2017. And you know what that means. Weekly financial publication Barron’s was able to obtain a note written by Wedbush analyst Dan Ives and the analyst says that Apple will raise prices on the upcoming iPhone 15 line. Ives even appeared on CNBC and mentioned that he sees ASPs increasing. The alphabet soup stands for Average Selling Prices and with Ives expecting a rise, it means that he is forecasting a price hike for this September’s new iPhone models although he didn’t specifically mention U.S. prices.
When it comes to forecasting iPhone price hikes, Ives has a good track record. He correctly called for Apple to raise iPhone 14 prices internationally which is what did happen. But in the states (and in China), prices were static. Some of the overseas adjustments were necessary because of currency fluctuations last year which resulted in a stronger dollar. When the dollar is strong, it means overseas sales convert into lower amounts of greenbacks which led Apple to raise iPhone prices in some countries.
Ives also is bullish about Apple’s second-largest business segment, Services. When it comes to this business, he says that “Apple is playing chess, others are playing checkers.” He sees Apple’s valuation rising from the current $2.85 trillion to $3.5 trillion-$4 trillion in the next 18 to 24 months. Most analysts, notes Forbes, see Apple jacking up iPhone 15 prices-especially the premium Pro models-by as much as $200.
The iPhone 14 is priced at $799 and up and the iPhone 14 Plus will cost you $899 and more. The iPhone 14 Pro starts at $999 and the iPhone 14 Pro Max will run you $1,099 and up. Ives believes that there are 250 million iPhone units that have not been upgraded over the last four years which could produce a windfall for Apple should many of them replace their handsets this year.
The Wall Street analyst predicts that Apple will ship 235 million to 240 million units of the iPhone 15 this year. Even if Apple were to raise iPhone 15 prices by an average of $100, that would be an additional $23.5 billion in revenue for Apple.
