The iPhone XR represents Apple’s more affordable iPhone. However even at around $750, the iPhone XR is still not necessarily affordable, which some analysts believe could be the reason why iPhone sales aren’t doing as well, where the iPhone XS and XS Max are simply too expensive, but the iPhone XR isn’t particularly affordable either.
Some have called on Apple to further reduce their prices, and it seems that Apple could have heeded those calls where over in Japan, carrier SoftBank has announced a promotion that would shave $100 off the price of the handset. It is unclear how long this promotion will last, but it will go into effect starting 30th of January where it will be known as the “iPhone XR Happy Price Campaign”.
This is not the first time nor is SoftBank the first Japanese carrier to slash its prices. Last year NTT Docomo also announced a similar price cut. We have also heard reports that Apple has given the greenlight for retailers over in China to discount its devices, a market which Apple’s CEO Tim Cook had recently admitted that they were struggling in.
That being said despite the iPhone XR not being the cheapest of iPhones, its price tag has made it more accessible compared to the other models and recently it was reported that the iPhone XR accounted for 39% of iPhone sales back in December 2018.