Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Apple’s newest phone comes with $1,000 price tag
CLOVIS — The smartphone market welcomed a few new products last week when Apple announced the iPhone 8, 8 Plus and iPhone X will be the newest additions to its line of phones.
With previous iterations iPhone 7 and 7 Plus still available, in addition to options from Apple’s main competitor Samsung, the cell phone market has never been more competitive.
Bilal Bhatty, owner of Cell Needs & Electronics at North Plains Mall, offered advice regarding how consumers should choose their smartphone and when to upgrade.
Bhatty said he considers the customer’s needs when helping someone choose a phone, offering higher-end phones to heavy users and cheaper options for people who use their phone minimally.
Samsung presents the most attractive option for those looking for a cheaper phone, with products available for as low as $50 or even free with a new contract, Bhatty said.
Apple on the other hand sells almost exclusively higher-end smartphones, with the new iPhone X costing $1,000.
But which smartphone manufacturer is winning the smartphone battle?
According to comScore’s June 2017 report, Apple currently leads its competitors with 44.9 percent of the smartphone marketshare in the United States, while Samsung sits second with 29.1 percent.
The two smartphone giants don’t completely control the market, as LG, Motorola, and HTC make up 15.9 percent of smartphone users, according to comScore.
One of the most common reasons local residents use iPhones is because of the video-telephone app FaceTime and the text message feature iMessage.
Bhatty said he uses FaceTime to talk with his family every day and Andrea Ours said she uses the app to talk with her husband in the military.
Rebekah Fisher said her whole family uses iPhones, making it easy to use FaceTime and iMessage.
But Ray Zamora, who recently bought a ZTE smartphone, said he didn’t go with one of the bigger name brands because they are more expensive.
“You pay for the brand,” Zamora said.
Kyle Barry said he chose the Samsung Galaxy S7 because it was a better deal, while Monica Hailey bought a LG phone for the same reason, because it was cheaper than the other options.
