Some think the phone was never meant to sell well.
With the iPhone 14 launch last month, one of Apple's most eyebrow-raising decisions was to axe the iPhone mini and introduce a larger iPhone Plus. The iPhone mini was a nice little device for anyone that still wanted a phone they could carry in a small pocket, and it was cheaper too. The iPhone Plus isn't either of those things.
The new member of the family is simply a slightly larger version of the iPhone 14. With a 6.7-inch display, it's 14mm taller, 6.5mm wider and 30g heavier. But it seems people don't think those extra millimetres are worth paying an extra $100 / £100 for. We can't say we're surprised, but is there something more complex going on? Whichever iPhone 14 model you're looking for, make sure you see our pick of the best iPhone 14 prices and the best iPhone 14 cases.
Apple has reportedly reduced production of the iPhone 14 Plus (Image credit: Apple)
It was always going to be a difficult time to launch a new product with a higher price tag, which makes Apple's decision to introduce the iPhone 14 Plus a strange one. As consumers tighten their belts due to inflation, Apple scrapped the cheaper iPhone mini and introduced a new, larger iPhone. At $899 / £949, the iPhone 14 Plus costs $100 / £100 more than the standard iPhone 14 and only $100 / £150 less than the iPhone 14 Pro.
Other than the Plus's size and a stated extra 6 hours of video playback (26 hours compared to the iPhone 14's 20), it offers no upgrade in terms of specs. And that left many people wondering what the point of it is. After all, anyone who wants a larger device at a cheaper price than the new iPhone 14 Pro Max might look to last year's 13 Pro Max. With the devices only released three weeks ago, it might be too soon to judge the iPhone 14 Plus's success (or lack of), but if reports of production cuts are anything to go by, it seems that even Apple might be starting to wonder if it misjudged its segmentation this year. Maybe...
This is the #iPhone14Plus strategy guys !!!Pls RT 🤧 pic.twitter.com/NXzLkrS0qDOctober 19, 2022
According to reports in The Information and Digitimes, several suppliers and channel operators in China have confirmed that they've been told to cut production of iPhone 14 Plus phones and components by around 40 per cent while Apple evaluates demand.
Reports suggest that while iPhone 14 Plus sales have actually outpaced the iPhone 13 mini so far in China, the new phone has failed to attract interest in other countries. DigiTimes cited sources that suggest shipments of the iPhone 14 Plus will likely be reduced to around 10 million units for this year. It seems that Apple instead plans to focus on boosting production of the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max. Nobody seems to be very surprised.
"Who would’ve possibly thought undercutting the Pro by only 100$ while being a marginally worse phone would be a terrible product strategy?" one person wrote on Twitter. But others suggest that this was the plan all along: that the iPhone 14 Plus was never intended to sell well, but rather to convince people to buy the Pro because it's "only $100 more".
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you get it, bro. People think apple made a mistake and overestimated 14+ and now they failed lol what a joke. It's a sneaky marketing trick to boost Pro sales, 14+ is a decoy :D pic.twitter.com/SnfMyanxzCOctober 19, 2022
The launch of the iPhone 14 Plus isn't the only surprising – and slightly perplexing – product line decision taken by Apple recently. We've just seen the launch of a new iPad 2022 that's causing some serious confusion among fans.
Considering Apple's marketing acumen, it's hard to imagine that the tech giant wouldn't have foreseen that consumers would be confused by the new lineups. We wonder, then, whether there may be something in the 'decoy' theory, and whether Apple's apparently bizarre decisions are an attempt to deal with inflation without having to introduce steep price hikes across its existing lines. If you're wondering how the whole iPhone 14 lineup looks in terms of price, you can find links to the best prices in your region below.
Joe is a regular freelance journalist and editor at Creative Bloq. He writes news, features and buying guides and keeps track of the best equipment and software for creatives, from video editing programs to monitors and accessories. A veteran news writer and photographer, he now works as a project manager at the London and Buenos Aires-based design, production and branding agency Hermana Creatives. There he manages a team of designers, photographers and video editors who specialise in producing visual content and design assets for the hospitality sector. He also dances Argentine tango.
