Apple's new iPhone SE lags siblings in sales as 9.7" iPad Pro performs well, analytics data says
The newest, littlest iPhone hasn't captured the imagination of smartphone buyers just yet, new launch data indicates, while the 9.7-inch iPad Pro has seen steady adoption following last week's debut.
In the days after the iPhone SE was released to the public, it accounted for just 0.1 percent of all iPhones observed by analytics firm Localytics. That is the lowest first-weekend total for any new iPhone release in the last five years, just behind the 0.3 percent posted by the jumbo iPhone 6 Plus and 6S Plus.
For comparison, the iPhone 6 posted the highest total, accounting for 2 percent of all observed iPhones over its first weekend.
It's not clear why the iPhone SE may be lagging, though its mid-cycle release -- when many consumers in the U.S. are in the middle of wireless contracts -- may have something to do with it. AppleInsider's review found it to be an incredibly capable and future-proof device that those clamoring for a smaller form factor will enjoy.
Meanwhile, the new 9.7-inch iPad Pro accounted for 0.4 percent of all iPads in its first weekend. That matches the iPad Air 2 and is a tick higher than the 0.3 percent showing of the larger iPad Pro.
The numbers came from an examination of data from more than 100 million iPhones and 50 million iPads. The opening weekend for the iPhone SE and iPad Pro was defined as March 31 to April 3.
In the days after the iPhone SE was released to the public, it accounted for just 0.1 percent of all iPhones observed by analytics firm Localytics. That is the lowest first-weekend total for any new iPhone release in the last five years, just behind the 0.3 percent posted by the jumbo iPhone 6 Plus and 6S Plus.
For comparison, the iPhone 6 posted the highest total, accounting for 2 percent of all observed iPhones over its first weekend.
It's not clear why the iPhone SE may be lagging, though its mid-cycle release -- when many consumers in the U.S. are in the middle of wireless contracts -- may have something to do with it. AppleInsider's review found it to be an incredibly capable and future-proof device that those clamoring for a smaller form factor will enjoy.
Meanwhile, the new 9.7-inch iPad Pro accounted for 0.4 percent of all iPads in its first weekend. That matches the iPad Air 2 and is a tick higher than the 0.3 percent showing of the larger iPad Pro.
The numbers came from an examination of data from more than 100 million iPhones and 50 million iPads. The opening weekend for the iPhone SE and iPad Pro was defined as March 31 to April 3.
Comments
The SE is not really a new iPhone. It is taking the place of the entry level 5s. The target market is people with a 4s or people on a fixed budget seeking their first iPhone. Anyone who is anticipating the arrival of iPhone 7 is never going to be interested in any entry level iPhone.
Despite this issue with the data, I'm not surprised by slow sales of the SE. My impression is that relatively few potential buyers are excited by improved specs - its an exciting new design that most people can't wait to purchase - and we sure didn't get that with the SE.
If those two goals are met, and I expect they will be, Apple will be happy.
5s may prevent SE's penetration because 5s is still an excellent phone. When 5s is totally exhausted in the channel and existing 5s owners think to upgrade because of battery or camera/4K or LTE advantages then the SE will prevail.
There are better posts below about retail (un)availability, which explains today's 0.1 percent better than anything else.
I never heard of these guys. The SE isn't the flagship iPhone.
That all being well and good, it tells me one of two things are at play here.
1. Apple could have underestimated demand for this phone and went to launch on very low stock in stores.
2. The numbers quoted in AI's source material suggests low adoption, but that could be because there were so few available to purchase at launch.
As a side note, we did also check the local Target and Best Buy for stock, of which they had none (Saturday). My girlfriend even got an email from Target saying they would have the SE at launch date and when we arrived at the local Target, they didn't even have them on display...so we left assuming they didn't have any. Best Buy's website said we could only see stock in store only so we decided not to get fooled again by online information.
This is so dumb. It's not a new flagship phone released for the holidays. It's a long-tail product, not something Apple was expecting to sell 10 million of in a weekend.
Expanding availability to more markets will also help of course. It was only in 12 countries within the first few days.