[Fuldagap]

Quite an interesting article on the supply, demand and associated tertiary businesses with the Apple iPhone.

The launch of the iPhones sparks a surge of excitement among resellers and buyers in the UAE, hoping to cash in on the latest Apple release every year. However, with the launch of the iPhone 16, some lucky resellers walked away with profits, while others found themselves grappling with massive financial losses, with some losing as much as Dh200,000.

Every year, the release of a new iPhone model becomes an opportunity for many UAE residents to make quick bucks by reselling the devices at a premium. The latest launch of the iPhone 16 on September 20 was no exception, as buyers who pre-booked the device online flocked to Apple stores to pick up their phones. The first lucky recipients sold their phones to eager resellers, marking up the price by Dh2,500 on launch day.

The resellers, hoping to capitalise on the opportunity, then tried to sell the phones at an even higher premium. They expected to sell the device at an additional Dh3,000, which would leave them with a profit margin of around Dh500 on each sale.

However, things took an unexpected turn this year. Many resellers who purchased iPhones from residents who pre-booked the devices, anticipating high demand, found themselves in a tough spot when supply flooded the market and prices dropped significantly within days.

Reseller's struggle: Dh200,000 loss

JA, an electronics dealer in Dubai, described how he and his team had positioned themselves to make a fortune from the iPhone 16 launch. “We bought nearly 80 phones on the first day from people who had pre-booked their devices. We stationed employees at malls in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and we were paying a premium of Dh2,000 for each Pro Max model,” said JA.

Initially, the strategy seemed to work. “On the first day, we made some profit on a few devices. We already had bookings, and our clients had paid an advance of Dh100 to Dh500 even before the launch. But they didn’t come to pick them up on the first day as expected,” said JA.

“Since our clients weren’t collecting their devices, we tried to sell them with a lesser profit margin of Dh100 to Dh300 on the first day, as the demand suddenly shot down and we managed to sell only 20 units. Hoping that demand would increase, we decided to stock the phones and sell them on the following days,” added JA.

However, things went downhill from there. JA and his team had paid a total premium of over Dh160,000 for the 80 phones, and the situation worsened as more devices flooded the market. “On the second day, my employees bought another 57 devices, paying a premium of Dh800 to Dh1,000 per phone,” said JA. “We expected demand to increase, as it usually does in the first few days after the launch. But the shocking part was that people weren’t coming to buy them. Even the clients who had paid advances backed out.”

Phones from elsewhere flood the market


The third day of the launch brought the biggest blow to resellers' business in the UAE. “Thousands of devices from Hong Kong, Singapore, the US, Japan, and other countries flooded the UAE market, and suddenly, the demand was gone,” said Altaf (name changed), another electronics dealer in Dubai. “The iPhone 16 Pro Max models from abroad were available at below retail price everywhere, with no need to pay any premium,” said the dealer.

Facing a stockpile of unsold iPhones and with the market saturated, JA revealed that his business is now facing losses of nearly Dh200,000. “We couldn’t make any profit. We are still stuck with these phones and it’s becoming nearly impossible to sell them by keeping profit,” said JA.

“I lost around Dh100,000 by purchasing the phones at a premium, hoping to sell them at a higher price later,” said MP, another reseller. “But the market became flooded with phones from other countries, and there was no more demand.”

Like many others, MP based his investment on past successes. “Last year, I made a profit of Dh70,000 on the iPhone 15 models in just 10 days. Many resellers made profits over the years, and in previous years, demand extended well beyond November,” said MP. “We expected the same trend this year and stocked up on the iPhone 16 Pro Max.”

Unfortunately, the influx of international stock led to an oversupply in the market, wiping out any chance of turning a profit. “It’s tough this year. The market didn’t react the way it did in previous launches,” said MP.

Source

[itwasntme]

Picked up a folding 3-in-1 travel charger for the iPhone 14 Pro Max, Airpods Pro and Apple Watch SE2 combo. With 3 years warranty hence preferred it over the generic Chinese no-name stuff.

https://amzn.in/d/fmZQTi2

Now need a powerful brick to charge this unit and also any other gadget(s) when travelling in the US.

Was surfing Amazon, and noticed that most GAN dual port chargers are labelled as 240 volts. What happened to the 110-240 volt universal ones? Am focusing on a reasonably priced 45-65 watt one.

Will continue to use the Apple brick for the MacBook, hence don’t necessarily need a super-powerful one.

Any tips would be highly appreciated!

[Prowler]

After updating the iOS to 18, mail has stopped working. I tried reinstalling the mail accounts individually but no joy. I can see that iPhone still sends the mail but doesn't receive the mails.
A search in Google shows it is a common problem until Apple sorts it out. Any workaround ?

[Renaissance Man]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Now need a powerful brick to charge this unit and also any other gadget(s) when travelling in the US.

https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B0C...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I have been using this for last one year, its perfect for travelling and can also replace the MacBook charger if needed.

[Oppanna]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Picked up a folding 3-in-1 travel charger for the iPhone 14 Pro Max, Airpods Pro and Apple Watch SE2 combo. With 3 years warranty hence preferred it over the generic Chinese no-name stuff.

https://amzn.in/d/fmZQTi2

Thanks for the link. Was looking for something similar and my only worry is that will the devices heat up compared to the traditional wired wall chargers? I know it is too early to ask for your feedback or would you be able to share your user feedback post using it?

[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

https://amzn.in/d/fmZQTi2

Now need a powerful brick to charge this unit and also any other gadget(s) when travelling in the US.

Quoting myself, picked up this one: https://amzn.in/d/7qHagT7

I remember Costar from my SG trips earlier.

[ashvek3141]

Apple has release the iOS 18.0.1 update today. Seems like this is primarily a bug fix for the 16 series devices.

Any improvements seen on older devices, if anyone has updated?

The iOS 18.0 so far has been bug free, albeit a few here and there still exists. For the 12 Pro, I have had 2 instances wherein the phone kinda restarted on opening the camera. It's like the 'busy' animation that comes up momentarily and returns to the lock-screen in 2 - 3 secs. Not a proper restart per se.

Battery life in last 2 weeks has been good. Anyway I have a new battery, so cannot really attribute it to the iOS 18 as an improvement.

[Cyborg]

Originally Posted by ashvek3141

Any improvements seen on older devices, if anyone has updated?

iPhone 11 updated to 18.0.1 in the evening. Everything seems working fine as of now. Will update after a couple of days.

I have observed an improvement in battery life with the update to iOS 18 even though my battery has seen its days, it shows 72% with service due.

Cheers

[SideView]

Originally Posted by SideView

Some strange occurrences on my iphone 8 plus (87% health on 2+ year old replaced battery)

Something definitely funny going on. With 85% now it started showing “service” and more occurence of battery percentages fluctuating. I was thinking it was always 80% and below for service. (Oh well time to upgrade or try my luck with battery replacement once more). Definitely not planning on throwing away this phone as it still works perfectly and will use it as backup.

[rx100]

Looks like Apple Music 3 months trials are giving out to all iPhone devices now instead of just newly purchased ones. I received an alert within settings on my 3 year old 12 Mini.

[Cyborg]

Originally Posted by Cyborg

iPhone 11 updated to 18.0.1 in the evening. Everything seems working fine as of now. Will update after a couple of days.

I have observed an improvement in battery life with the update to iOS 18 even though my battery has seen its days, it shows 72% with service due

Quoting myself - 18.0.1 seems to be good on my iPhone 11. All applications are fluid, cannot discern any difference in feel coming from iOS 18, only battery performance seems better than before even with my aging battery.

Cheers

[Gannu_1]

The only issue I’ve been facing after the update to iOS 18 (iPhone 11) is with CarPlay (Honda Jazz’s OE touchscreen unit).

If I attend a call or use Siri, the sound quality goes for a spin, music sounds dull. I’ve to then disconnect and connect the cable. Or start the camera app and come out of it. It automatically becomes alright.

This wasn’t there before with iOS 17 versions.

[mobike008]

I see we are still "analyzing" battery performance after every iPhone updates?

Chill folks, you bought into the Apple fantasy world so whatever it brings in, just lie back and enjoy.

Here is an update on some pictures from iPhone 15 Promax :

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/et-ce...ml#post5854841 (The Smartphone Photography Thread)

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by Fuldagap

Attachment 2660842

Quite an interesting article on the supply, demand and associated tertiary businesses with the Apple iPhone.

[][/i][/b]

The consumer is basically getting a little wiser and not allowing himself/ herself to be carried away by the hype.

In my view, perhaps it will be better if Apple were to simply release a new iPhone every 2 years with significant differentiators rather than this ‘fast-fashion’ kind of phone launch dynamics every year.

For one thing such a step will ensure that they deliver more bang for the buck and for another, it will bring about a little more sustainability.

Me, I have decided that I shall upgrade my iPhone ONLY if there is a significant differentiator and in my observation this tends to happen only once every 3 years.

[Fuldagap]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

The consumer is basically getting a little wiser and not allowing himself/ herself to be carried away by the hype.

In my view, perhaps it will be better if Apple were to simply release a new iPhone every 2 years with significant differentiators rather than this ‘fast-fashion’ kind of phone launch dynamics every year.

For one thing such a step will ensure that they deliver more bang for the buck and for another, it will bring about a little more sustainability.

Me, I have decided that I shall upgrade my iPhone ONLY if there is a significant differentiator and in my observation this tends to happen only once every 3 years.

There are very less people I know who carry an Apple device for its proper use. It is indeed a fashion statement. Nothing wrong with Apple exploiting the fact and milking the cow.

There are more truck drivers I know who carry the most expensive iPhone than the people who can really afford it for its usability and price. Most of them have EMIs eating into their low salaries. Especially people from Punjab. Beyond apps like WhatsApp, TikTok, Snapchat, FB, Instagram, there is hardly any other app of use to them.

There are also crooks who wish to appear estsblished and make a statement.

From the article it appears that people queue up to make a quick buck and sell it for a premium to a reseller. The reseller in turn makes a quick buck reselling it to someome gullible or wannabes or people who really want it for their actual use but are unable to find the availability. Only this time it didn't work out for the resellers.

I often get to meet multi millionaires and there is a clear mix of them who use Apple or another device. Their children however would mostly be on an Apple, even if just in school or college.

Whoever be the person, Apple devices demand high desirability. A newer launch almost always inculcates a strong desire to instantly upgrade. Whatever be the price, owning an Apple brings a lot of joy to the person. Somebody like me would never fathom buying something so expensive and useless (given that Androids with more than satisfsctory performance are available in 25-30k INR. A 50k+ INR android device is totally crazy itself.

About 10 years back a friend was insanely craving for a certain iphone. We went to stores for hours in NCR trying to find the one he wanted. We finally found it and he bought it at a premoum of 10k INR, all paid in cash. He did not even have water till we found it finally. I was mocking him all the while, till he got his hands on his new device and mocked me back in his own way, handing over the Apple to me and saying "try to feel it, this is luxury".

But what does a person like me know, an Apple is an Apple.