iPhone 8 outsold iPhone X in Apple's holiday quarter, consumer survey finds

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2018
Apple's active shipping of eight iPhone models during the holiday season has led to some interesting data, with the fall 2017 releases outselling older models nearly two to one.




According to a Consumer Intelligence Research Partners of 500 iPhone buyers between October and December, 24 percent of purchasers picked up the iPhone 8, with the iPhone 8 Plus accounting for 17 percent of buys. The iPhone X held 20 percent of iPhone buyers in the two months it was available in the survey period, with every other model including the iPhone 6 family and iPhone SE holding down 39 percent.

CIRP maintains that comparing 2017 with 2016 remains difficult, for multiple reasons.

"Comparisons to earlier launches are tricky at best. First, iPhone X wasnt available for the full quarter. The Apple model pie is further divided, as they now offer eight models, the most ever," write CIRP co-founder Josh Lowitz. "Apple launched the new phones on a different schedule, announcing three new models at once, but delaying the launch of the most advanced and expensive one, iPhone X, for five weeks following the launch of iPhone 8 and 8 Plus."

One of CIRP's survey months was in October -- the month before the iPhone X was available. This could skew the data in favor of non-iPhone X models as well, given the data spans three months of purchases, and not just the two that the iPhone X could be bought.

Other data suggests that in the US, the iPhone X was surpassed by the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus during the holidays -- with the sales figures notably collected after the iPhone X launch.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 43
    ihatescreennamesihatescreennames Posts: 1,960member
    Is this surprising to anyone?  The iPhone 8 was available for longer so reviews had already come in and the X is more expensive as well.
    StrangeDaysGG1mavemufcchabignetmagejony0
  • Reply 2 of 43
    Rayz2016Rayz2016 Posts: 6,957member
    Not surprising, since that was the plan.

    If the iPhoneX had outsold either one of the othe two models then Apple had priced it too low. 
    StrangeDayspscooter63chabignetmagemattinoziCintosjony0
  • Reply 3 of 43
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 13,068member
    Strange headline. There were two different 8 models and they’re more affordable than the X. 
    philboogiechabigchia
  • Reply 4 of 43
    kiowavtkiowavt Posts: 95member
    Not surprising. Costs etc as mentioned above. I am actually surprised how many I know did purchase it! Me, for various reasons I prefer fingerprint to face ID. if it had had both...
  • Reply 5 of 43
    seanismorrisseanismorris Posts: 1,624member
    This isn’t surprising, everyone I know bought the 8 over the X.

    The surprise is how amazingly well the X sold, it certainly shocked Apple.  The X was supposed to be the Super Super Premium IPhone.

    It’s like suddenly half the population bought Bentley’s...

    It would be interesting to compare the US numbers vs. the EU (for example) where phones are not financed through the wireless carriers.
    asdasd
  • Reply 6 of 43
    zoetmbzoetmb Posts: 2,655member
    500?  Sample size too low, IMO.   And of course lower prices product sell more.   That's true for almost everything and there are only rare exceptions, when comparing apples to apples (or Apples to Apples).  
    sully54muthuk_vanalingamchiajony0redgeminipa
  • Reply 7 of 43
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    Only if you believe the data is correct. With all the changes in how we perceive the news ands facts the last few years I’ve become a complete cynic. I don’t believe anything anymore and think everybody has an agenda they want to promote, especially financial analysts. 
    kiowavtmuthuk_vanalingamchia2old4fungatorguyjony0
  • Reply 8 of 43
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,922member
    If this is correct, I'm sure this will be spun into the iPhone X is a massive failure. Then of course, if it was the other way around, the iPhone 8 would be considered a massive failure. Either way, Apple is doomed and Tim should be fired! zoetmb said:
    500?  Sample size too low, IMO.   And of course lower prices product sell more.   That's true for almost everything and there are only rare exceptions, when comparing apples to apples (or Apples to Apples).  
    Yes, that is an extremely low sample size. Hardly enough to get an accurate count. 
    chabigchia
  • Reply 9 of 43
    thedbathedba Posts: 776member
    For starters, that sample is too low. You would need to double it at least to begin to draw any meaningful conclusions from it.
    Secondly, where was this sample taken? US only or worldwide?. 
    And even if it's US only is it truly random or is it biased in some way? For example may not include devices purchased directly from Apple.

    All we can say about this survey is, interesting but we need more info.  
  • Reply 10 of 43
    anantksundaramanantksundaram Posts: 20,408member
    This is just US sales. Even though has the largest share, it only a share. We have absolutely no idea about what the global numbers are.

    The usual pre-earnings FUD has started...
    muthuk_vanalingamjony0
  • Reply 11 of 43
    nhughesnhughes Posts: 770editor
    StrangeDays said:
    Strange headline. There were two different 8 models and they’re more affordable than the X. 
    The iPhone 8 outsold the iPhone X, while the iPhone X outsold the iPhone 8 Plus. The two different models are clearly addressed in the story. Headline is accurate.
    chiaronnGeorgeBMac
  • Reply 12 of 43
    mavemufcmavemufc Posts: 326member
    Only 500 users anyway, but this isn’t surprising, two 8 models, were available almost two months earlier and cheaper as well.
  • Reply 13 of 43
    mike1mike1 Posts: 3,412member
    Assuming that virtually all of the X customers would have purchased an 8/8+ if the X was not released, that means Apple sold 20% of their customers an iPhone with a higher selling price and more margin. Sounds like a win and exactly what they were counting on.
    ronn
  • Reply 14 of 43
    croprcropr Posts: 1,140member
    lmasanti said:
    Apple sold like a million iPhones (or were them only iPhone Xs?) in Black Friday.
    It will probably announce like 80 millions sold in Xmas's quarter…

    …and those guys have the guts to ‘make conclusion’ from 500 customers?

    That's nasty business… We just need to know who pays them for doing this.
    But it is also bad journalism. (I keep ‘nasty’ away for the sake of respect to the author and the site.)

    This is the second nature of fake news: inconscious replication.
    The mathematics about statistics give the 500 customers on a population of a few million means a margin of error of about 4%.  Not very accurate but still a  good indication.
  • Reply 15 of 43
    epicurusepicurus Posts: 29member
    Still the X option accounted for twenty percent in this small field. I really tire of the constant nit picking against apple sales, let’s see which model sells the most next two quarters when supply is good and all three models are out in full swing. 
  • Reply 16 of 43
    avon b7avon b7 Posts: 7,977member
    epicurus said:
    Still the X option accounted for twenty percent in this small field. I really tire of the constant nit picking against apple sales, let’s see which model sells the most next two quarters when supply is good and all three models are out in full swing. 
    I agree with what you are getting at.

    It may be fun and even necessary to pick up on these stories but what really counts is performance over the year.

    Late last year Apple made its biggest ever handset strategic shift. It had far more importance than the iPhone X and throws a massive spanner into any attempt to draw comparisons to previous years.

    Pent up demand, potential super cycle, availability and Apple's biggest ever product spread all serve to distort its handset performance in the short term. 

    Apple provided big numbers as guidance at the last earnings call. If these next earnings were going to be significantly off that guidance, they would have issued a warning. As they haven't, I don't see any reason to think it won't be a bumper quarter. 

    That doesn't necessarily mean the X or even the 6 are the big hitters. It could simply be a nice spread across everything they are offering.

    What will really count is how growth looks when the year winds down.

    I wouldn't even be worried if the high end became less relevant. They have the 6, SE and 7's in there for just that reason. Wall Street wouldn't see it the same way though.

    If they had unnerving faith in the premium segment they would never have given users the option to shoot lower.


  • Reply 17 of 43
    thewbthewb Posts: 80member
    AT&T has been offering buy 1 get 1 free on iPhone 8.
  • Reply 18 of 43
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 13,068member
    nhughes said:
    StrangeDays said:
    Strange headline. There were two different 8 models and they’re more affordable than the X. 
    The iPhone 8 outsold the iPhone X, while the iPhone X outsold the iPhone 8 Plus. The two different models are clearly addressed in the story. Headline is accurate.
    I didn't say it was inaccurate, I said it was strange -- because it's expected that the 8 outsells the premium, much more expensive X.
  • Reply 19 of 43
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,038member
    ihatescreennames said:
    Is this surprising to anyone?  The iPhone 8 was available for longer so reviews had already come in and the X is more expensive as well.
    It shouldn't be, but this forum had plenty of people saying that no one was going to buy the iPhone 8 series because of the iPhone X.
  • Reply 20 of 43
    lowededwookielowededwookie Posts: 1,163member
    zoetmb said:
    500?  Sample size too low, IMO.   And of course lower prices product sell more.   That's true for almost everything and there are only rare exceptions, when comparing apples to apples (or Apples to Apples).  
    This is easily proven. What's Apple's market share compared to say Samsung's? 500 is a pathetic sample size and it doesn't state where they were located. I know the article says US but does it include all 50 states or is it only California for example? Does it include richer states who may be more likely to purchase higher end phones than poorer states or what?

    This is the problem with numbers, they don't tell a story, they only tell you something is bigger than something else.
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