With a $800 watch, Apple expands its market as the new iPhone inches closer

September has consistently been the month that Apple unveiled its most recent iPhone during the past ten years. Year after year, the corporation delivered swaggering technological improvements that fueled its growth as Apple rose to become the most valuable company in the world.

The tech company has switched its focus to newer devices with greater room for innovation, such the Apple Watch and AirPods, as the flagship smartphone has aged and its advancements have become more gradual.

The Apple Watch Ultra, a fitness-focused variant of Apple’s wearable computer, was launched on Wednesday. The tough $800 variant has a larger screen and enhanced durability and is aimed at triathletes, distance runners, scuba divers, and backcountry enthusiasts. Additionally, it has a “action” button to make using it while wearing gloves easier, larger speakers for calls in windy environments, and a bigger battery with a 36-hour battery life.

The AirPods Pro from Apple now have new capabilities like the ability to control the volume with a flick of the finger.

While the iPhone still makes up more than half of Apple’s sales, smartwatches and AirPods—both of which function best with an iPhone—have helped the business fortify its most crucial product while fostering greater consumer devotion.

According to Francisco Jeronimo, vice president of device research at market research firm IDC, “the more things you have from Apple, the more difficult it is to leave Apple for another provider.” Your entire life is integrated into one ecosystem.

With more than a billion users, Apple has leveraged the iPhone to expand into new markets and win over unrelated industries. With its own credit card, own watch, and own audio company, Apple has disrupted the financial sector, the watchmaking industry, and the audio industry with its wireless headphones.

The most recent illustration of the company’s ability to spread its wings is the Apple Watch Ultra. It forces Apple into a segment of the smartwatch industry that is dominated by Garmin, which, according to IDC, sells to rivals in endurance sports for around $2.6 billion. According to Mr. Jeronimo, Apple should be able to reduce that percentage because to the popularity of the iPhone and its well-known brand. It already holds more than double its nearest rival, Samsung, with about 51% of the market for smartwatches.

On Wednesday, Garmin stated that Apple’s entry into the adventure smartwatch market justified the company’s growth.

Along with the fitness-focused watch, Apple also unveiled an update for its classic Series 8 watch that includes a body temperature sensor and a feature called “crash detection” that can detect when an Apple Watch wearer is involved in a car accident and alert family members and emergency personnel.

The Steve Jobs Theater on Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, California, hosted the product launch, the company’s first there since 2019. Journalists and staff cheered as Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, approached the stage to launch an infomercial outlining the new goods as they hailed the return to normalcy in the crowded space.

Less significant changes to the iPhone lineup were overshadowed by the Apple Watch’s new features. The iPhone 14 comes in entry-level and more expensive models with 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch displays, respectively, from Apple. In order to communicate with emergency services in rural and other remote areas and receive assistance if they get lost while trekking or find themselves in another emergency situation, both models incorporate the capabilities of a satellite phone.

The less expensive iPhone 14, which retails for $800, has an upgraded front and rear camera with larger sensors to take clearer pictures in low light, but it still has the same chipset from the previous year.

The iPhone 14 Pro, which costs $999, the same as last year’s top phone, has received Apple’s biggest design updates. For its Face ID system, the new phone does away with the notch in favour of a tiny cutout that houses the front camera and shows warnings and notifications. The phone also includes a smaller, black border around the screen and a “always on” display that illuminates information like a clock without the need to unlock it.

The Pro variant of the iPhone has a new CPU, the A16, which supports an enhanced camera with a bigger sensor for better photographs, in contrast to the less expensive iPhone 14. Additionally, it supports brand-new machine-learning algorithms that improve the clarity and details of images.

The iPhone had a resurgence in sales during the pandemic, despite charging some of the highest prices in the smartphone market. Apple reported a record $192 billion in revenue for its most recent fiscal year from just the iPhone, a 14-year-old product that is now more well-known for incremental upgrades than revolutionary advances.

Apple anticipates that the iPhone 14 will maintain this momentum. Susquehanna International Group, a financial firm, reports that Apple aims to produce more smartphones than it did a year ago, despite rival smartphone manufacturers lowering production as the global economy slows.

Seven different iPhone models, with prices ranging from $429 to more than $1,500, are available from the company, which has helped it grow its customer base recently. A digital study company called Consumer Intelligence Research Partners found that a third of iPhone buyers make less than $50,000 a year, despite the fact that its luxury pricing has helped it attract more wealthy customers than competing smartphone manufacturers.

The location of the iPhone 14’s manufacturing facility may be more significant than its new features. In an effort to lessen its reliance on China, where the vast bulk of its goods are made, Apple will construct some of its flagship phones in India for the first time this year.

The need for Apple to diversify its supply chain has increased this year as a result of pandemic-related interruptions in China and rising geopolitical issues regarding Taiwan’s status.

According to Technalysis Research’s founder, Bob O’Donnell, “We’re in a post-maturity period of the iPhone.” “It’s getting more difficult to distinguish between device generations.”