Earlier this year, Apple (AAPL -2.41%) held its annual iPhone launch event. Thanks to how good the leaks are with respect to Apple's iPhones, it shouldn't have been a surprise to those following the Apple rumor mill when the company introduced three new iPhones: the XS, XS Max, and XR.
The first two represent Apple's highest-end smartphones, with the best hardware specifications and the most premium aesthetics. They're also quite pricey, with the XS starting at $999 and the XS Max at $1,099. In their top storage configurations, the phones sell for $1,349 and $1,449, respectively.
Image source: Apple.
The iPhone XR, on the other hand, has more accessible price points: $749, $799, and $899 for the variants with 64, 128, and 256 GB of storage space, respectively.
A recent report from The Wall Street Journal [subscription required] said Apple "prioritized the production of its two pricier OLED models, the iPhone XS and XS Max," and that the company "also began planning for the LCD model after the OLED model," citing "people familiar with production plans."
In a comment to The Wall Street Journal, an Apple spokeswoman "said the company releases its products when they are ready."
Here's why the comment from the Apple spokeswoman seems reasonable.
Listen to the supply-chain rumors
Ahead of Apple's Sept. 12 product launch event, there were reports that the device we now know as the iPhone XR would make it to market later than the XS and XS Max, because of manufacturing hiccups.
Analyst Katy Huberty, for example, had the following to say in a July research note, as reported by 9to5Mac:
We currently see no delay in the ramp of Apple's upcoming flagship 5.8" or 6.5" OLED iPhones. However, suspected issues with LED backlight leakage have caused a 1-month delay in mass production of the 6.1" LCD iPhone, although this is down from a 6-week delay baked into the original production forecast, according to suppliers.
Considering Apple began selling the iPhone XS and XS Max on Sept. 21 and is expected to start selling the XR on Oct. 26, a little over a month after the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max became available for sale, I'd say Huberty's information was spot-on.
Questionable benefits to an intentional delay
The smartphone market is fiercely competitive, with many makers constantly releasing new models. The sooner Apple can launch strong products into the marketplace, the better off it'll be, especially if getting those products to market sooner helps Apple keep potential customers from buying devices from competing manufacturers.
On top of that, while the iPhone XR's availability is delayed relative to the XS and XS Max, all three phones were announced at the same time. The specifications of the XR have been available on Apple's website for a while now, and during the product launch event, the company let attendees go hands-on with the device and broadcast their initial impressions of the device.
Furthermore, since the XR shares much of the core technology with the currently available XS and XS Max, it is, at least to some degree, a known quantity. Therefore, I think consumers have plenty of information to allow them to make informed decisions about which of the three iPhones from the Sept. 12 announcement they want to buy.
So again, instead of considering the XR's delayed introduction as part of a clever marketing strategy on Apple's part, I'm more inclined to believe Apple simply needed more time to get the XR into mass production. It doesn't appear as if Apple intentionally delayed the roll-out as much as the trillion-dollar giant was forced to.
