iPhone 8 Cost: Price Cut For Apple’s Upcoming Device To Compete With Samsung Galaxy S8+, Report Says

There have been speculations doing the rounds that the iPhone 8 will be steeply priced at $1,000. However, in a recently accessed report by global financial services firm UBS, Apple will slash iPhone 8 prices by at least 10 percent.

UBS analyst Steven Milunovich, in his research note, has revealed that the iPhone 8’s 64 GB base model could be priced at $850-$900 in the U.S. The idea is to give the new Samsung's Galaxy S8+ a stiff competition, which starts at $840.

MacRumors obtained Milunovich's latest research note and said that the analyst claims the move is a part of Apple’s “mainstream luxury” pricing strategy. He also said that since the Galaxy S8+ has the advantage of a bigger screen size, 6.2-inch, iPhone 8 will be similarly priced to compete with it.

According to the report, Milunovich believes that the iPhone 8’s 256GB model could be priced between $950 and $1,000, making it the first-ever mainstream device in the U.S. to have a four-digit price tag. He also predicted that the tentatively named iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus will start at around $649 and $749, respectively.

“Contrary to some perceptions, Apple prices quite competitively. Apple likes to position its entry-level products at the mid-market with 'Pro/Plus' products close to competitors at the high end. Therefore, we do not think Apple will stray far from the price point of Samsung's most expensive model at $840-850 and will keep the entry OLED model at $850-900. Apple's 256GB OLED model could be $950-1,000, but the 256GB 7 Plus already is $970,” the report quoted from Milunovich’s paper.

However, MacRumors suggested that Milunovich's prediction is just a calculation based on UBS Asia hardware analyst Arthur Hsieh’s report, who estimated that “the factory cost of the tentatively named iPhone 8 could be $70 to $90 higher than the iPhone 7 Plus, which starts at $769. ”

The iPhone 8 is expected to have several similarities to the recently unveiled Galaxy S8+, which includes a missing physical home button, iris scanning, wireless charging and a True Tone display.

Read: iPhone 8 Rumors: Apple Will Reportedly Include True Tone Displays For 2017's iPhone Lineup

Late last month, the Galaxy S8+ was unveiled to the public as a large Android smartphone with a 6.2-inch Infinity Display, a Snapdragon 835/Exynos 8895 CPU and a 3,500mAh battery.