Best Buy revs up holiday sale: iPhone 6s for $1
Best Buy is selling the Apple smart phone at a rock-bottom price – with a few caveats.
A new Apple iPhone 6S and Apple Watch in the new matching rose gold color are displayed during an Apple media event in San Francisco, California, in this file photo from September 9, 2015. As the Apple Watch enters the critical holiday sales season, its biggest boosters may be people already sporting it. Sixty-two percent of U.S. adults who already have an Apple Watch plan to give the gadget as a gift, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.
REUTERS/Beck Diefenbach/Files
In a significant drop from its regular $200 price tag, Best Buy retailers are drumming up a last-minute holiday sale: the iPhone 6s is now on sale for $1 until Sunday.
There are caveats, however. The deal only applies to Verizon and Sprint customers signing new two-year service contracts – anyone with AT&T doesn’t qualify. And the deal only applies to the iPhone 6s with 16GB. Best Buy will also add a $200 gift card for users trading in a working iPhone 5.
The iPhone 6s, which was released earlier this year, includes 3D touch, motion wallpapers, new colors, a better camera, and a “Hey Siri” feature that allows Apple's audio concierge to respond to her name even when the display is turned off.
Apple CEO Tim Cook has often maintained an “iron-like grip” on Apple’s product pricing, so it’s surprising for Apple customers to see such a large bargain this holiday season. But for Best Buy, who is struggling to compete with other retailers and online shoppers, it’s a smart tactic to attract more customers into the store.
Apple sales have been up substantially this year. According to CNN Money, “The iPhone 6s is expected to be a hot seller this holiday season.” Mr. Cook expects Apple to sell a record number of iPhones this year – even more than the 74.5 million iPhones sold in the last three months of 2014. Still, Apple stock fell by .6 percent this quarter, causing some to anticipate lower sales than normal.
The new holiday sale isn’t the first time Best Buy has cut the price on a product. Earlier this month, Best Buy sold Apple Watch for a $100 discount. Some analysts suggested the move was potentially a way for Best Buy to clear out its stock of Apple Watch to prepare for the new model, which will be released in March.
Other companies, like Target, have offered similar discounts, selling Sprint’s version of the iPhone 6s Plus for as much as 50 percent off.
Apple, however, has not lowered any of its expectations for the future, going into the holidays. The company is currently priced at $51.5 billion, according to its most recent annual sale.
“Fiscal 2015 was Apple’s most successful year ever, with revenue growing 28% to nearly $234 billion. This continued success is the result of our commitment to making the best, most innovative products on earth, and it’s a testament to the tremendous execution by our teams,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We are heading into the holidays with our strongest product lineup yet, including iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, Apple Watch with an expanded lineup of cases and bands, the new iPad Pro and the all-new Apple TV which begins shipping this week.”