The entire installed base doesn't upgrade every single year. There are years of people upgrading to the X form factor left.

The entire installed base is not willing to pay these prices, as Apple have discovered.

I think that's the key. I've upgraded every year for many years, but I just wasn't compelled to do it this year. I love my X, and it's still working great! I fully expect to upgrade next year.

That's not true. Users usually upgrade in cohorts. Not everyone upgrades every year and those upgrade cycles are getting longer industry-wide as Apple and others have acknowledged repeatedly.

What you said doesn't contradict him/her. As an X user, XS and XS Max are very minor upgrades and are absolutely not worth the 1450 - 1500 EUR of price.

But the people I know who switched from 6S / 7 are very much happy with their decision to buy an XS.

You just described me. I am still tempted because I want a bigger screen (I read a lot on my phone) but I cannot justify the ~1450 EUR price that the XS Max at 256GB storage sits at around here in Eastern Europe.

Agreed - This is what their strategy overlooked. Lineup needs to exceed expectations to justify price increase y/y, but revisions are increasingly minor since the 7 lineup.

I would say as far back as the iPhone 6.

This