Apple CEO Tim Cook Calls Reports That iPhone XR is a Flop 'Bologna'

Apple CEO Tim Cook recently sat down for an interview with Mad Money's Jim Cramer, which aired today at 6:00 p.m Eastern Time. CNBC shared tidbits of the interview this morning, but now the full discussion is available.

Cook covered topics that include Apple's recent earnings downgrade, Apple's performance in China, iPhone upgrades, how well the iPhone XR sold, and more.

iphonexr
When asked about reports that the iPhone XR was a flop, Cook says he calls "bologna on that." The iPhone XR has, in fact, been the most popular iPhone "every single day" since it started shipping out to customers.

Cook did, however, demur when asked about iPhone XR sales relative to other sales, saying only that he'd like to sell more, and that Apple is "working on that."

According to Cook, naysayers have been saying similar things about Apple for many years now, but Apple is focused on the long term. Cook pointed towards Apple's large active install base, high customer satisfaction rating, and growing services business as positives.

On the topic of poor iPhone sales in China, Cook said that the Chinese economy is slowing, and that trade tension with the U.S. created a "more-sharp downturn." He said that he believes trade tensions are temporary, and that he's heard "some very encouraging words" recently.

As for upgrades, which were impacted in 2018 by the availability of cheaper $29 battery replacements for older devices, Cook said he's not bothered, and that the number of iPhones sold in a 90-day period, which many analysts believe is the "most important metric" is "far, far, far" down on his list of concerns.

This is far, far, far down my list. The point is, if somebody decides to buy an iPhone a little later, because of the battery, huge discount that we gave, they decide to hold on a little longer, I'm I'm great with that.

I want the customer to be happy. We work for them. And so the important thing is that they're happy. Because if they're happy, they will eventually replace that product with another. And the services and the ecosystem around that will thrive.

Apple does plan to encourage upgrades, however, through features like new phone setup, data transfer, and older device trade-ins to lower the base cost of a new device.

Cook went on to explain that Apple's "not about making the cheapest" products, instead focusing on making the "best product that enriches people's lives."

Now, the best phones, we knew that, as we went to the X and then the follow-on of the XS and the XS Max, that everybody would not want to spend $1,000 for the phone. So we made the iPhone XR.

The most important thing, says Cook, is that "customers are satisfied."

A full transcript of Cook's Mad Money interview is available from CNBC.

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Sunday March 23, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
maxresdefault

Apple Releases iOS 18.4 With Priority Notifications, Ambient Music, New Emoji and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:03 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4, the fourth major updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating system updates that came out last year. iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 come two months after Apple released iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to...
top stories 2025 03 29

Top Stories: WWDC 2025 Announced, iPhone 17 Pro and iOS 19 Rumors, and More

Saturday March 29, 2025 6:00 am PDT by
Apple's big developer event is a little over two months away, and rumors about what we can expect to see in Apple's next major operating system updates are becoming increasingly frequent. A public release of iOS 18.4 is also imminent with a number of updates and improvements, although we won't be getting the major Apple Intelligence Siri upgrades that had reportedly been planned for this...
Magic Mouse Green

What to Expect From the Magic Mouse 3

Saturday March 29, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Apple is reportedly working on a new Magic Mouse. Below, we recap what to expect. The two key rumors for the Magic Mouse 3 so far include a relocated charging port, along with a more ergonomic design. It was briefly rumored that the Magic Mouse 3 would also feature voice control, but that was misinterpreted information. Relocated Charging Port While the Magic Mouse switched from...
iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Expected Next Week - Here Are the Release Notes

Friday March 28, 2025 2:01 pm PDT by
With the second release candidate of iOS 18.4 that Apple seeded out today, the company finally provided us with release notes that give a full rundown on what to expect. There's an Apple Vision Pro app, new Apple Intelligence features for notifications and additional language support, plus an Apple News Food feature for Apple News+ subscribers, and several updates that should improve the...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature Homescreen

Six Things to Know About Apple's Upcoming Foldable iPhone

Friday March 28, 2025 3:54 pm PDT by
We've been hearing rumors about a foldable iPhone for almost a decade now, but it looks like we might finally see the device come to fruition in 2026. We're going to be waiting many more months for the foldable iPhone, but so far we're hearing good things. Apple wants to make it creaseless. It's taken Apple multiple years to design a foldable iPhone that it's satisfied with because Apple ...
iOS 19 visionOS UI Elements

Apple Codename Provides Clue About iOS 19's Rumored New Design

Sunday March 30, 2025 6:40 am PDT by
Multiple sources have claimed that iOS 19 will introduce a new design with more translucent buttons, menus, notification banners, and more, and there is now another clue that points towards this glass-like appearance. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today said the new design project is codenamed "Solarium" internally. A solarium is a room with glass walls that allow in plenty of sunlight, so this...
macOS Sequoia Feature

Apple Releases macOS Sequoia 15.4 With Mail Categorization and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:04 am PDT by
Apple today released macOS Sequoia 15.4, the fourth major update to the macOS Sequoia operating system that launched in September. macOS Sequoia 15.4 comes two months after the launch of macOS Sequoia 15.3. Mac users can download the ‌‌macOS Sequoia‌‌ update through the Software Update section of System Settings. It is available for free on all Macs able to run macOS 15. With...

Top Rated Comments

Klae17 Avatar
81 months ago
Then release the numbers Tim. What are you afraid of?
Score: 49 Votes (Like | Disagree)
djcerla Avatar
81 months ago
I’m from actual Bologna and can confirm that. Full of XRs here.
Score: 44 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Act3 Avatar
81 months ago
bologna / baloney. “Bologna” is the name of a city in Italy, pronounced “boh-LOAN-ya.” But although the sausage named after the city in English is spelled the same, it is prononced “buh-LOAN-ee” and is often spelled “baloney.” ... When it means “nonsense,” the standard spelling is “baloney.”May 19, 2016

https://brians.wsu.edu/2016/05/19/bologna-baloney/



Just a common error in spelling, maybe.
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
goobot Avatar
81 months ago
The low upgrades this year are because of price and the lack of anything new in the XS. I’ve upgraded every year since the 3g and I’m not going to spend over 1k for almost nothing new. You could also argue that anyone who is in the market for something other than a phablet was pretty much given the finger because apple wanted to try and grow their user base in China.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
az431 Avatar
81 months ago
I gotta believe it is indeed a flop. In NYC, which is extremely loyal to new iPhones and where I constantly see iPhone X/XS’s and even a lot of Max’s, I have yet to see a single XR in the wild!
Given that Apple sold 240 million iPhones last year, the personal observations of what one person sees in their neighborhood is rather meaningless. Also, not sure how you determined the loyalty of NYers with respect to iPhones, and what the relevance is of iPhone loyalty to the choice of a particular model within the iPhone line.

No offense, but I'll take the word of the CEO who looks at the sales figures every day and risks prison time for making materially false statements, than that of an anonymous forum poster.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
robjulo Avatar
81 months ago
The “this” is a that TC cares about your money...that is it. Foolish to think otherwise. If TC cared about the customer, he wouldn’t still be sticking 5400 rpm drives in overpriced computers and he wouldn’t be charging several times market price for memory and SSD storage.

"I want the customer to be happy. We work for them. And so the important thing is that they're happy. Because if they're happy, they will eventually replace that product with another. And the services and the ecosystem around that will thrive."

This ^^
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)