Popular iPhone XR 'saved' Apple, says report
An online marketing group has published research data that shows how important the iPhone XR was to Apple -- and claims that it even 'saved' the company.
Apple's iPhone XR
Global affiliate marketing group Awin claims that the success of the iPhone XR was so significant that it "saved Apple." Despite lacking the features of its more expensive siblings last year, the company's research data says that it dramatically outsold those other phones both at launch and has consistently done well since then.
Awin is not an Apple reseller, but it has a global network of advertisers and derives its data from that ad network. Specifically, the data is harvested from the ads that it serves, and what devices are used to view them.
"Whilst our data shows a rather healthy launch for the XS," says the company in a blog post, "the XR's launch the following month was +146% times larger. It seemed that for the average consumer the price saving was worth the loss of features, and the iPhone XR looked the part of a new iPhone and that was what mattered most to users."
That yellow spike in the numbers is the iPhone XR. (Source: Awin)
That presumption about looks being key notwithstanding, Awin's actual data suggests that the iPhone XR has been a consistent source of revenue for Apple. It appears to have been much more profitable and steady than even the previous year's iPhone X.
Analysing its data back to January 2018, Awin claims that the iPhone X was quickly beaten in sales by Apple's cheaper iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 models.
"However, following its launch, the iPhone XR has continued to be the best seller not only within the iPhone market, but amongst all handsets sold across the network," continues the company.
"Our look at the top handset manufacturers in 2018 would have suggested that Apple was likely going to lose share in 2019, however, the data to date shows Apple's share has grown even despite gains from the likes of Huawei and Google. We believe the data shows that the iPhone XR is the sole reason for this. You could even say that the iPhone XR saved Apple."
How Apple's brand share changed over 2018 and 2019 to date. (Source: Awin)
The company expects that price-conscious buyers will make the iPhone 11 be the bestselling iPhone of the new range. "However, the iPhone XR remaining on sale... may allow Apple to test performance against the likes of Huawei."
Awin surmises that the success of the cheapest iPhone reflects a problem all companies are having with explaining the benefits of their higher-price offerings.
"The fact that a brand as powerful and as valuable as Apple was unable to convince consumers to go for a higher quality product shows the challenge in consumer education within the technology and telecoms sectors," says the company.
Apple's iPhone XR
Global affiliate marketing group Awin claims that the success of the iPhone XR was so significant that it "saved Apple." Despite lacking the features of its more expensive siblings last year, the company's research data says that it dramatically outsold those other phones both at launch and has consistently done well since then.
Awin is not an Apple reseller, but it has a global network of advertisers and derives its data from that ad network. Specifically, the data is harvested from the ads that it serves, and what devices are used to view them.
"Whilst our data shows a rather healthy launch for the XS," says the company in a blog post, "the XR's launch the following month was +146% times larger. It seemed that for the average consumer the price saving was worth the loss of features, and the iPhone XR looked the part of a new iPhone and that was what mattered most to users."
That yellow spike in the numbers is the iPhone XR. (Source: Awin)
That presumption about looks being key notwithstanding, Awin's actual data suggests that the iPhone XR has been a consistent source of revenue for Apple. It appears to have been much more profitable and steady than even the previous year's iPhone X.
Analysing its data back to January 2018, Awin claims that the iPhone X was quickly beaten in sales by Apple's cheaper iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 models.
"However, following its launch, the iPhone XR has continued to be the best seller not only within the iPhone market, but amongst all handsets sold across the network," continues the company.
"Our look at the top handset manufacturers in 2018 would have suggested that Apple was likely going to lose share in 2019, however, the data to date shows Apple's share has grown even despite gains from the likes of Huawei and Google. We believe the data shows that the iPhone XR is the sole reason for this. You could even say that the iPhone XR saved Apple."
How Apple's brand share changed over 2018 and 2019 to date. (Source: Awin)
The company expects that price-conscious buyers will make the iPhone 11 be the bestselling iPhone of the new range. "However, the iPhone XR remaining on sale... may allow Apple to test performance against the likes of Huawei."
Awin surmises that the success of the cheapest iPhone reflects a problem all companies are having with explaining the benefits of their higher-price offerings.
"The fact that a brand as powerful and as valuable as Apple was unable to convince consumers to go for a higher quality product shows the challenge in consumer education within the technology and telecoms sectors," says the company.
Comments
the XR was a solid product at a great price point. I am sure Apple knows the fungibility of its products and knew they had to fill in a price point.
They are reporting on a marketing group's claim. Get over yourself.. sheesh ..
Personally though it'll be iPhone 11 Pro for me.
If these so called marketing firms have been paying attention, they would’ve known this instead of blurting out nonsense.
In fact all they had to do is listen to tech bloggers and most would’ve told them that the XR and this year’s 11 is the iPhone to get for the vast majority of users.
the way I first read it I thought apple was going to continue selling the XR... that’s how nonsensical that title is. My brain tried to make it make sense.
https://appleinsider.com/articles/19/09/10/the-iphone-8-is-now-449-and-the-iphone-xr-is-599
I guess I'll just leave.
Toodles
As iPhone sales stopped growing, Apple grew revenue by pushing the average selling price upward and it worked for a season.
I would expect that Apple would put additional emphasis on the midline and entry level markets going forward.
The XR was/is a solid phone that made few compromises for the cost savings it gave over the Xs. Clearly there were a lot of consumers who felt $1000 was too much for a phone. The fact that Apple continued, introducing the 11 at $700 is evidence that they recognized this as well.
I do. They looked great, but not what I wanted in a phone, so it was the 5s for me. Still, ad bad a 'failure' as haters wanted it to be, it's 'failure' numbers would have made just about every other phone manufacturer giddy to equal.
Other companies fail when they lose money. Apple fails when it makes money, just not as much as pundits think (ha!) they should have. AAPL go under any day now, if they keep that up.