Last week we reported about a rumor that claimed Apple is going to offer indirect subsidy to make iPhone XR more affordable for Japanese buyers. This comes after the news that iPhone XR has been selling lower than Apple’s expectations and the company is looking to boost sales. Now it looks like that rumor was true after all as Apple is indeed offering iPhone XR at a lower price when the device is bought on a 24 month contract from network NTT Docomo. With the new pricing users will be able to save around $100.
After the discount the device cost drops from 36,000 yen to 24,000 yen, this excludes the price of mandatory contract fees. With the updated pricing iPhone XR with 64GB storage capacity is available on NTT Docomo for around 7,000 yen per month, which when converted becomes $62 per month. With NTT Docomo offering the device at such lower rates, other Japanese carriers are expected follow soon.
Due to high price of iPhone XR and other iPhone models launched this year, Japanese users are reportedly buying last year’s iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus and Apple clearly wants to change this trend by pushing users towards the XR.
It is highly unlikely that similar Apple discounts will be offered in other parts of the world. This price drop is strategic and targeted towards Japanese market where the company already dominiates 50 percent of the market in terms of smartphone sales.
