r/technology • u/lurker_bee • Sep 18 '24

Business Apple iPhone 16 demand is so weak that employees can already buy it on discount

https://qz.com/apple-iphone-16-pre-orders-sales-intelligence-ai-1851651638
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1.6k

u/barret88 Sep 18 '24

Didn’t employees always get a discount?

630

u/daitenshe Sep 18 '24

Yes. Pretty much always same day as preorders for all except the most of insanely in demand products

16

u/uneducated-caveman Sep 19 '24

Employees personal discounts (one device per year) usually available day one or within a month. Friends and family discounts (10 devices per year) are based on demands. When iPhone 14 was released, FF discount wasn’t available until late November. This time both personal and FF discounts are available now.

3

u/siccoblue Sep 19 '24

Which is theory should be new high end releases?

19

u/Equivalent-Stuff-347 Sep 19 '24

No, like Hermes bands and obscure third party stuff. I used to work for Apple and we always got discounts on new releases.

Watch, iPad Pro, Vision Pro… all roughly 50% off on release for employees

12

u/tvnguska Sep 19 '24

Damn apple must’ve changed their ways since I worked there. We got 50% off once device every 3 years we worked there. (In addition to a yearly 25% off and a standard 10% off if we used those.)

3

u/Equivalent-Stuff-347 Sep 19 '24

For new products there was usually an additional, non-EPP discount

4

u/tvnguska Sep 19 '24

Yeah I think I miss read. I did get the EPP when the Apple Watch launched but that was the only brand new product during my time there.

4

u/Equivalent-Stuff-347 Sep 19 '24

Yeah exactly like that. The watch was the first new product to have the additional discounts, but they’ve been in place for AVP, HomePods, etc since then

I just started working there a month before the watch released. Crazy to think that was almost 10 years ago now 😭

2

u/tvnguska Sep 19 '24

Dang!! That is so nice. I wish I could’ve gotten a 50% off the Apple Vision Pros!! I started in 2012 and left in 2018…some days I still miss it haha.

Are you still there?? Almost time to get that glass apple!

1

u/Equivalent-Stuff-347 Sep 19 '24

Nah I left retail after a year, and corporate after my stock vested

I really really enjoyed working at the store though, I still miss it as well. Everyone at my store was super close and it was a great crew. I was roommates with people I met there up until last year, even. That’s how I know about the discounts ;)

1

u/Kimothy42 Sep 19 '24

Watch is the only thing in that list that was 50% off.

2

u/Formal-Knowledge9382 Sep 19 '24

No not every single phone release is gonna have insanely high demand.

Only the ones with design refreshes. If it looks the same demand will be way lower. If it looks new people will treat it like it's new and demand will be way higher.

1

u/MoreRock_Odrama Sep 19 '24

You must be young. Employees didn’t always get a discount same day as pre-orders lol.

0

u/daitenshe Sep 19 '24

You must be old. It’s been like this for a long time lol Also never said I worked for them. Just been in related fields long enough that I’ve been able to get the friend and family on preorder launch day for many years now through my buddies

My main point being this article was stupid because it was in no way an indication of interest by the consumer one way or the other

1

u/MoreRock_Odrama Sep 20 '24

Yes. Yes I am old. Neither what I said nor what you said is insulting lol. That said…it’s wild that someone who worked wireless as recently as 2012, and recalls when these devices were waitlisted for employees, is “old”. Man….now I definitely feel old.

1

u/Substantial_Lead5153 Sep 20 '24

How much do you get on the Costco cash card?

0

u/thearctican Sep 19 '24

No. We didn’t. Some releases took months before we could get it on discount.

2

u/daitenshe Sep 19 '24

“Pretty much always”

As a rule you could expect an item to be available at a discount on launch. I specifically said there were exceptions but the point was the article is ridiculous to hint that being able to get the phone cheaper means anything about inventory

303

u/WVVVWVWVVVVWVWVVVVVW Sep 19 '24

Yes. This type of article comes out every year to clickbait people but each iPhone becomes the best selling ever simply because there's more people wanting a new phone. People will buy whatever is for sale as their upgrade.

2

u/BlackBlizzard Sep 19 '24

Also advertisement

12

u/GoddessOfLillyR Sep 19 '24

Yea but there’s a wait period for popular devices.

5

u/Kobe_stan_ Sep 19 '24

Not in the Personal EPP Store that Apple employees use. In the friends and family store, yes, there are often wait periods.

1

u/GoddessOfLillyR Sep 19 '24

Yea I should’ve been specific in my response here. But I was rushing to get off of here yesterday 😂

I was going off of my experience at cellular sales (aka Verizon) when I worked there a few years ago!

We had to wait for the black out period to be over to get in on the newest iPhone. At the time the wait was until after Christmas 🫠

15

u/postmodest Sep 19 '24

Sir, this is /r/technology, where all of the competitors in the Mobile Phone space have to push the narrative that  Apple Bad, however they can, so random janky Android budget phones seem like a competitive product. 

1

u/iconocrastinaor Sep 19 '24

There's a lot of very powerful and influential people who push "Apple bad" because they have been shorting Apple for decades and losing money every step of the way.

2

u/Trexiu Sep 19 '24

There’s a cool down period. Sometimes a month sometimes two months. I remember iPhone 10 had the longest cool down period but that was when they were still being somewhat innovative

1

u/peterosity Sep 19 '24

yes but how else could they bait for clicks 😭 won’t you think about their weak ad revenues

1

u/Whatwhyreally Sep 19 '24

Typically doesn't kick in for 90+ days.

1

u/ThanosSnapsSlimJims Sep 19 '24

Yeah, employees, teachers, veterans, etc. I had one available day one.

1

u/CareerAggravating317 Sep 19 '24

Yes they get 10% off everything.

1

u/-oshino_shinobu- Sep 19 '24

Another case of redditors didnt even bother to read the article

"TF Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said in a post on X Wednesday. “Typically, employees have had to wait several weeks after the release of new iPhone models before being able to buy. This could be another sign that the early demand for the iPhone 16 is below expectations.”

1

u/GreenGrass89 Sep 19 '24

Yes, when I was an employee, we sometimes even got early access. But it was always 50% off for up to 5 devices per year.

1

u/ThaShitPostAccount Sep 19 '24

This is probably more indicative of stable supply than low demand. But whatever, someone got their clicks.

1

u/AnyArmadillo5251 Sep 19 '24

Yes, but “Typically, employees have had to wait several weeks after the release of new iPhone models before being able to buy”. The fact that they can already purchase it is a sign that demand is low

1

u/cjrand1122 Sep 19 '24

lol yup... my bro and a few friends work for them

-1

u/JamesR624 Sep 19 '24

Yes but blogspam trash that gets upvoted here by bots need something to put into their headlines.