Apple has sold 160M iOS devices, average iPhone price grows to $625

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
As Apple announced it has sold more than 160 million devices powered by the iOS mobile operating system, the average selling price of the iPhone continues to increase, now at $625 per unit.



During Tuesday's conference call in which Apple's financial report for the first quarter of fiscal 2011 was discussed, the company's chief operating officer, Tim Cook, revealed that more than 160 million iOS devices have been sold as of December. The lightweight iOS operating system runs on the iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and Apple TV.



Cook said he believes that iOS is an important part of Apple's success in the mobile space, especially for smartphones and tablets. He said Apple's primary competition, the Google Android mobile operating system, can't match that strategy.



"We think that our integrated approach is much better for the end user, because it takes out all of the complexity for the end user, instead of making the end user a systems integrator themselves," Cook said. "I don't know about you, but I don't know many people who want to be systems integrators."



The rate of sales for iOS devices is rapidly increasing. In fact, it was just last June that Apple crossed the 100 million milestone in terms of total iOS devices.



The top-selling iOS device for Apple is the iPhone, which moved a record 16.2 million units last quarter alone. And Apple also revealed on Tuesday that the average selling price of its smartphone is only growing over time.



In the last quarter, the iPhone ASP hit $625 with carrier subsidies, which typically cover the bulk of the cost when a consumer purchases a new phone with a two-year contract. For comparison, last quarter the iPhone had an ASP of $610, while in the third quarter of fiscal 2010 it was $595.



Even with record sales of 16.2 million iPhones in the quarter, Apple struggled to meet consumer demand. Cook, along with Apple Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer, lamented that they wished the company could have manufactured more handsets in the quarter to satisfy demand.



The iPhone accounted for $10.5 billion in revenue for the quarter, representing the largest chunk of the company's reported $26.74 billion in total revenue. The iPhone grew in sales 86 percent in the December quarter, and is now being deployed at 88 of the Fortune 100 companies.



Apple expects even greater iPhone sales in the near future, with the impending launch of a CDMA variant of the iPhone 4 on the Verizon network in the U.S., starting Feb. 10. Cook said he does not believe the new CDMA handset will reduce the average selling price of the iPhone in the current quarter, and he noted that there is pent up demand for the smartphone from customers on the largest wireless network in the U.S.



"We are truly thrilled to be working with the Verizon team," Cook said. "They have built quite a company and earned a great deal of respect from their customers, and some of them have waited a long time to get the iPhone.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 21
    cameronjcameronj Posts: 2,357member
    Assuming that flash memory is not the limiting factor in overall production, and there's no indication that it is, maybe Apple is smartly focusing production on the higher end models. If you have enough flash to make 20 million phones, but only enough LCD panels to make 15, but people will buy whichever the cheapest available model is, why not make it a little more likely that the 32 will be the cheapest available at your store of choice, rather than the 16? Like in China - why would Apple ever send anything but the highest margin phones there, until they have enough production to make the rest easily?
  • Reply 2 of 21
    freerangefreerange Posts: 1,597member
    Truly amazing results. And as to cameronji's comment above, that most certainly is not what Apple is doin or wants to do. You don't continue to grow a successful company by not building the products want and then force them into a higher priced model. All of their manufacturing lines for all models are going full tilt.
  • Reply 3 of 21
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    It's called the future of computing for the masses.
  • Reply 4 of 21
    cameronjcameronj Posts: 2,357member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by FreeRange View Post


    Truly amazing results. And as to cameronji's comment above, that most certainly is not what Apple is doin or wants to do. You don't continue to grow a successful company by not building the products want and then force them into a higher priced model. All of their manufacturing lines for all models are going full tilt.



    Just because it's not a good long term business strategy (duh) doesn't mean it's not an excellent short term strategy in the face of limited production. How else do you explain that average prices continue to rise?



    You made three statements that you couched as fact that I challenge you to support:



    1: that most certainly is not what Apple is doin

    2: or wants to do

    3: All of their manufacturing lines for all models are going full tilt.



    Prove that any one of these is anything beyond your opinion.
  • Reply 5 of 21
    I just need to relate the amazing figure of 160m iOS devices to the Google WebM video codec push. The inferior WebM will most likely not be supported on iOS and neither will equally inferior Flash wrapper/player. So, will content providers happily ignore the high-value iOS users? As far as I can tell, Apple sold an estimated 86 million of the confirmed 160 m i OS devices in calendar 2010 alone (48m iPhones+24m iPod touhes+14m iPads). Most likely the number of iOS devices sold in say 6 months from now will reach 200m. Any one big or small content provider, pushing or selling any kind of content on the 'net, gratis or premium, can ill afford to ignore an audience/market of that size. Standards will be upheld, WebM fails, H.264 rulez. (On a completely different note, my first post, yay.)
  • Reply 6 of 21
    docno42docno42 Posts: 3,755member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by cameronj View Post


    How else do you explain that average prices continue to rise?



    People actually want the higher capacity devices?



    Quote:

    Prove that any one of these is anything beyond your opinion.



    Well duh, we are all speculating on an Internet message board for crying out loud!
  • Reply 7 of 21
    docno42docno42 Posts: 3,755member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by rarild View Post


    Any one big or small content provider, pushing or selling any kind of content on the 'net, gratis or premium, can ill afford to ignore an audience/market of that size. Standards will be upheld, WebM fails, H.264 rulez. (On a completely different note, my first post, yay.)



    I think Google just entered a game of chicken they can ill-afford.



    If they try to take YouTube WebM only, how fast do you think FaceBook will be there to pick up the proverbial pieces?



    And if they are smart they won't be talking about obscure technical details like codecs and obtuse concepts like "open" that are just religious code-words. Oh no, the message will be simple "What? YouTube no longer works with your iPhone? That's OK - try FaceBook Video (tm) We not only let you play video on your iPhone, but you can share video with one swipe!"



    Google has a big set of hubris that is going to haunt them because unlike Microsoft, they have a far less staying power. I've recently set Blekko as my home page (mainly because I couldn't remember it at first) and I must say, it reminds me of Google in the early years. Far more relevant search results not overwhelmed with ad-placed search results. I don't know how they are going to get the word out - other than word of mouth recommendations like mine. Who knows, perhaps something useful like this Google alternative in Blekko might go viral instead of yet another video of some guy taking a shot to the crotch...
  • Reply 8 of 21
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by cameronj View Post


    Assuming that flash memory is not the limiting factor in overall production, and there's no indication that it is, maybe Apple is smartly focusing production on the higher end models. If you have enough flash to make 20 million phones, but only enough LCD panels to make 15, but people will buy whichever the cheapest available model is, why not make it a little more likely that the 32 will be the cheapest available at your store of choice, rather than the 16? Like in China - why would Apple ever send anything but the highest margin phones there, until they have enough production to make the rest easily?



    Historically I'd agree, as far as I remember, Apple usually make a high end, higher priced product first then release lower end versions as they progress through the product's life cycle. Even then the top end product usually retains the price but with far more added. There are the exceptions where a price drop was introduced soon after launch but Apple typically compensates early adopters if that happens.
  • Reply 9 of 21
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by DocNo42 View Post


    I think Google just entered a game of chicken they can ill-afford.



    If they try to take YouTube WebM only, how fast do you think FaceBook will be there to pick up the proverbial pieces?



    And if they are smart they won't be talking about obscure technical details like codecs and obtuse concepts like "open" that are just religious code-words. Oh no, the message will be simple "What? YouTube no longer works with your iPhone? That's OK - try FaceBook Video (tm) We not only let you play video on your iPhone, but you can share video with one swipe!"



    Google has a big set of hubris that is going to haunt them because unlike Microsoft, they have a far less staying power. I've recently set Blekko as my home page (mainly because I couldn't remember it at first) and I must say, it reminds me of Google in the early years. Far more relevant search results not overwhelmed with ad-placed search results. I don't know how they are going to get the word out - other than word of mouth recommendations like mine. Who knows, perhaps something useful like this Google alternative in Blekko might go viral instead of yet another video of some guy taking a shot to the crotch...



    I don't disagree.



    On a slightly off topic comment on Google, I have become more and more frustrated with the amount of garbage searches bring up and also the lack of date relevance. Searches often bring up data that is many years out of date, well ahead of current information. The unwashed masses often assume the first result is true which is scary!



    BTW I tested Blekko. I typed 'AAPL' on a day that will go down in history. The first result is from 2010! Not too impressive.
  • Reply 10 of 21
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by rarild View Post


    I just need to relate the amazing figure of 160m iOS devices to the Google WebM video codec push. The inferior WebM will most likely not be supported on iOS and neither will equally inferior Flash wrapper/player. So, will content providers happily ignore the high-value iOS users? As far as I can tell, Apple sold an estimated 86 million of the confirmed 160 m i OS devices in calendar 2010 alone (48m iPhones+24m iPod touhes+14m iPads). Most likely the number of iOS devices sold in say 6 months from now will reach 200m. Any one big or small content provider, pushing or selling any kind of content on the 'net, gratis or premium, can ill afford to ignore an audience/market of that size. Standards will be upheld, WebM fails, H.264 rulez. (On a completely different note, my first post, yay.)



    I can't fault your logic.



    BTW, welcome
  • Reply 11 of 21
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by cameronj View Post


    Just because it's not a good long term business strategy (duh) doesn't mean it's not an excellent short term strategy in the face of limited production. How else do you explain that average prices continue to rise?



    You made three statements that you couched as fact that I challenge you to support:



    1: that most certainly is not what Apple is doin

    2: or wants to do

    3: All of their manufacturing lines for all models are going full tilt.



    Prove that any one of these is anything beyond your opinion.



    The reason for the ASP increase is partially tied to currency exchange rates which have become more favorable to Apple. Second, sales mix has shifted away from 3GS models. It's not necessary so that people are buying more 32GB models. Actually from the data I compile, the trend has been lower mix of 32GB. I attribute to better availability vs 3-6 months ago, when people would settle for a 32GB if no 16GB since it could be weeks before getting hands on the cheaper model.
  • Reply 12 of 21
    Reading my news like usual, yesterday I saw like everyone that Steve Jobs has health problems once again.

    Many newspapers are talking about it, stocks are afraid of what could be Apple after Steve Jobs.

    Will the successor be a genius like him, or will it be Tim Cook, a company manager but not a visionary.

    2011 will be full of new products with brighter iPad, better iPhone and faster iBook, but we need more than improvements, we need new concept.

    Creativity is a long process and sometimes it takes more than one year to make a product mature and improvement was not the only business of Apple.

    So we need to have a brand new version of Apple, the version 3.0.



    Some history:

    Version 1.0 was the creation and the life of Apple until Mr. Jobs was fired

    Than it became version 1.0.1: nothing special, a dark age



    Version 2.0 the come back after NeXT experience

    Now Steve left and I think that's an important turn from Apple.

    I don't want to talk too much on Steve health problems, but I can feel it's not good.

    So what's next ?

    Financial people are afraid to take risky investments, but only these ones are paying.

    I had the opportunity to see some very interesting creations these days and I can see competition is moving very fast.



    Apple has two directions to go:

    1. Stay strong on the existing markets: tablets, phones, media store, music players

    2011 will be a good financial year but what after?

    The best way would be to diversify the line because everyone doesn't like the same thing.



    2. Opening new markets: where is the money? TV, Digital cameras, game consoles, set top boxes, car radios, robotics, home automation, Hifi...

    These markets are making money and Apple creativity can bring interesting innovation.

    Imagine a digital camera with a professional lens (don't have to be a SLR) and iOS interface, a TV with Kinect like control, multimedia car interface, a home media server (maybe my next post will be on this subject), a set top box with time lapse and Tv recording, a digital mirror with all information, a Roomba like robotic vacuum cleaner with self learning and iPhone interface, a Hifi multi room system directly connected to the home server without need to connect to iPhone or PC,...



    So Mr. Cook, we, users, are available to help you to continue and to magnify so Steve will be proud of you and of his baby.



    Financial markets are afraid, but poor man needs to rest a little.



    Yes, I think there is definitely a life after Steve JOBS
  • Reply 13 of 21
    penchantedpenchanted Posts: 1,070member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by lolo7good View Post


    2. Opening new markets: where is the money? TV, Digital cameras, game consoles, set top boxes, car radios, robotics, home automation, Hifi...

    These markets are making money and Apple creativity can bring interesting innovation.

    Imagine a digital camera with a professional lens (don't have to be a SLR) and iOS interface, a TV with Kinect like control, multimedia car interface, a home media server (maybe my next post will be on this subject), a set top box with time lapse and Tv recording, a digital mirror with all information, a Roomba like robotic vacuum cleaner with self learning and iPhone interface, a Hifi multi room system directly connected to the home server without need to connect to iPhone or PC,...



    Please, NO!



    This would turn Apple into another LG or Samsung, not the focused company which has been successful.
  • Reply 14 of 21
    Add iPhones, iPads, and iPod Touches and you get at least 30million iOS devices sold over three months. Averaged, that's 10million a month, or about 350,000/day.
  • Reply 15 of 21
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by DocNo42 View Post


    ...I've recently set Blekko as my home page



    Thanks for that! I had not heard of them.



    Google needs some competition. Better stated: we need Google to have some competition.



    How they're going to make money though...?
  • Reply 16 of 21
    auxioauxio Posts: 2,717member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by digitalclips View Post


    BTW I tested Blekko. I typed 'AAPL' on a day that will go down in history. The first result is from 2010! Not too impressive.



    But there is the /date sort option right at the top of the Blekko search results page, which seems to be what you're looking for.



    Then again, you can do the same on Google (get the results sorted by date using the options under "Any Time" on the left side) and it will even give you live updates as newer search results come in. I tested with AAPL and it updated the search results about 6 times in 30 seconds today.
  • Reply 17 of 21
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by digitalclips View Post


    I don't disagree.



    On a slightly off topic comment on Google, I have become more and more frustrated with the amount of garbage searches bring up and also the lack of date relevance. Searches often bring up data that is many years out of date, well ahead of current information. The unwashed masses often assume the first result is true which is scary!



    BTW I tested Blekko. I typed 'AAPL' on a day that will go down in history. The first result is from 2010! Not too impressive.



    Aah so it's not just me who thinks Google Search is total crap. I'm experiencing the same out of date/totally not relevant results crap, and am so fed up with it. Tried Yahoo!. Nope. BaiduByeBye. Then Bing. Wow, just wow. Went back to Google. Looked for competitive search engines, found none. Apparently Google has something like 86% market share. Gonna try out Blekko, choosing '/date' instead of '/relevance'.



    Cheers,

    Phil
  • Reply 18 of 21
    addaboxaddabox Posts: 12,665member
    Google needs to find a way to filter out "content farm" results.



    Increasingly, search results are mostly brief, nearly useless "articles" written expressly to maximize search term hits and garner ad revenues for the site. I'm not sure what to call it, but there are also a great many hits that seem to do nothing but repeat back your search terms before defaulting to some random list of links.



    Google is the big player in this space, they have a responsibility to take measures before the entire idea of "searching the web" is swamped out by these kind of entities. Otherwise people will shift ever more to mobile apps that address specific content and bypass the search engine altogether.
  • Reply 19 of 21
    It's easy to understand why the price is higher, and it is not because there are more people buying the high end models, it is because the price of the iPhone in Europe is much higher than in the US. This applies to the Macs also.
  • Reply 20 of 21
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by addabox View Post


    Google needs to find a way to filter out "content farm" results.



    Increasingly, search results are mostly brief, nearly useless "articles" written expressly to maximize search term hits and garner ad revenues for the site. I'm not sure what to call it, but there are also a great many hits that seem to do nothing but repeat back your search terms before defaulting to some random list of links.



    Google is the big player in this space, they have a responsibility to take measures before the entire idea of "searching the web" is swamped out by these kind of entities. Otherwise people will shift ever more to mobile apps that address specific content and bypass the search engine altogether.



    Agreed. We may be seeing the end of an era in respect to Google dependence. As you say more subject specific apps to search may become required (heck I'd use them now). It also makes you wonder a little about Google's business model. If Google were to become another MySpace then all those Androids don't exactly help pay their bills. Consumer preference is a fickle thing these days.
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