Tech With the yen tumbling Japan goes for second-hand iPhones

In July, Apple hiked the price of the entry-level iPhone 13 by nearly a fifth. The basic iPhone 14 later debuted at 20% more than the iPhone 13 did, even as the U.S. price stayed flat at $799. While the dollar has surged against global currencies this year, the yen has been particularly hit, dropping 22%. Salaryman Kaoru Nagase wanted a new phone but couldn't justify the price of a iPhone 14, which starts at 119,800 yen ($814). Instead, he bought a used iPhone SE 2 in Tokyo's Akihabara electronics district for less than a third of that. "At more than 100,000 yen the iPhone 14 is too expensive and I just can't afford it. It would be fine if the battery lasted for 10 years," he said. The iPhone SE 2, released in 2020 but without the dual rear camera of the iPhone 14, was a "good balance" of cost and features, he said. Apple declined to comment for this story. But in an annual regulatory filing last month, it said Japan sales fell 9% in the year ended September 24 due to the yen's weakness.

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