Skip to main content

Apple to launch new iPhone retail strategy to boost sales at its brick-and-mortar stores

apple store line fanboyApple is reportedly looking to overhaul its iPhone retail strategy in a bid to boost sales to maintain a strong position in the handset market in the face of increasing competition from Google’s rival Android platform.

The news comes from 9to5Mac, which says Apple boss Tim Cook, together with executives Eddy Cue and Craig Federighi, held a secret summit with Apple retail store leaders from around the world. According to the Apple news site’s multiple sources, the meeting was held at Fort Mason in San Francisco on June 27.

20 percent

Cook reportedly spoke for three hours, praising the sales of iPads and Mac computers at Apple stores while at the same time expressing disappointment at the performance of the iPhone. The Apple CEO noted that only 20 percent of iPhone purchases are made through its own stores, a figure he’s keen to see improve.

“The iPhone is Apple’s central ‘gateway product’ to other devices like iPads and Macs, so it is critical that the Apple smartphone is sold via an Apple store so new customers are immediately exposed to iPads, Macs and other devices on the showroom floor,” 9to5Mac said in its report.

Incentives! Incentives! Incentives!

So how exactly is the Cupertino company hoping to boost sales of its handset at Apple stores? Well, imagine Cook running around the meeting room with sweaty armpits shouting, “Incentives! Incentives! Incentives!” à la Steve Ballmer. No, Cook didn’t do that as far as we know, but incentives appear to have been at the center of the Fort Mason talks.

There are already some in place. The company recently launched a back-to-school promotion offering students who purchase an iPhone a $50 app store gift card – the scheme is only available via Apple’s retail and online stores.

Cook is also believed to have mentioned an iPhone trade-in program, which could be rolled out at Apple stores in the coming months. The scheme, which will apparently make it simple for customers to part with their old iPhone model in exchange for the latest iteration, was first reported by Bloomberg last month, though no official word about the initiative has come from Apple up to now.

9to5Mac also said that worldwide improvements to price-matching policies could be implemented in an effort to bring more sales to the Apple store at the expense of other iPhone carriers.

New plans for improving iPhone sales at the company’s brick-and-mortar outlets will be unveiled at Apple’s next quarterly meeting for stores on July 28, the sources said.

And also….

Besides all the talk of incentives, there was reportedly also talk of a number of new “major stores” opening in Europe, though no timeframe was given.

Also, one person at the Fort Mason meeting said we can expect to see “an army of new products this fall,” possibly including the iPhone 5S, a revamped fifth-generation iPad, the much-talked-about low-cost iPhone, and, at a stretch, an Apple smartwatch.

Editors' Recommendations

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
How to turn off the always-on display on the iPhone 15 Pro and 14 Pro
The Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max and iPhone 14 Pro showing the screens.

Apple first debuted its always-on display (AOD) for iPhone with the iPhone 14 Pro, and it returns with the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. Though many people enjoy the AOD on the iPhone, others feel that it consumes enough power to affect the battery drain throughout the day. So, eventually, Apple added a way to turn the AOD off if you don't want to use it.

Read more
I reviewed 20 phones in 2023. These are my 5 favorites
A person taking a photo with the Apple iPhone 15 Plus.

This has been a fantastic year for smartphones due to the sheer variety of great devices at all prices. In other words, if you wanted a brilliant new phone this year, it didn’t have to be a $1,000-plus flagship.

I’ve used and reviewed a great many phones over the past 12 months, but the following five have left the biggest impression to become what I consider the very best you can get.
iPhone 15 Plus
Apple iPhone 15 Plus Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

Read more
Why RCS for the iPhone is Apple’s biggest announcement of 2023
A person holding the Apple iPhone 15 Plus.

Hell has frozen over. On November 16, 2023, Apple made the very unexpected announcement that it was bringing support for RCS on the iPhone in 2024.

In 2022, Tim Cook himself said that he’d rather sell you an iPhone instead of ever bringing RCS support to the iPhone because he thought customer demand for RCS wasn’t there. Google has made numerous attempts to shame Apple over its pushback of RCS over the years.

Read more