iPhone XR tops US iPhone sales during June quarter as 2019 models loom
The iPhone XR took 48% of U.S. iPhone sales during the June quarter, according to CIRP research estimates published on Monday, suggesting that buyers are indeed concerned about price.
That share is the "highest we've seen for an individual model since the iPhone 6 in 2015, which shared top billing with the 6 Plus, but only had two outdated legacy models offered as alternatives," CIRP commented. "Apple set out to create a competitive model, with current features like a large screen on a midsize handset, at a price that falls near the leading Android phones."
In fact the XR's share is believed to have surpassed what the iPhone X and 8 Plus achieved together in the same quarter of 2018.
The current iPhone lineup, the XS and XS Max included, is said to have composed 67% of Q3 2019 sales. The three-year-old iPhone 7 and 7 Plus continued to represent a significant share, though they were each outsold by 2017's 8 and 8 Plus.
CIRP further claimed that 35% of U.S. iPhone owners are subscribed to Apple Music, and that 48% are on some level of paid iCloud storage plan. 15% are said to be using Apple News, though the firm didn't specify how many are paying for Apple News+.
"Success in services has varied, depending on the competition and how much of a head-start Apple has," wrote CIRP co-founder Mike Levin. "After Apple discontinued iTunes, Apple Music is its unified music service, yet its 35% share still puts it behind Spotify and Pandora."
Apple is just two months away from revealing 2019 iPhone models. These may lose 3D Touch, but gain triple-lens rear cameras on the successors to the XS and XS Max, and twin lenses on the XR's follow-up. The latter may also sport new colors.
That share is the "highest we've seen for an individual model since the iPhone 6 in 2015, which shared top billing with the 6 Plus, but only had two outdated legacy models offered as alternatives," CIRP commented. "Apple set out to create a competitive model, with current features like a large screen on a midsize handset, at a price that falls near the leading Android phones."
In fact the XR's share is believed to have surpassed what the iPhone X and 8 Plus achieved together in the same quarter of 2018.
The current iPhone lineup, the XS and XS Max included, is said to have composed 67% of Q3 2019 sales. The three-year-old iPhone 7 and 7 Plus continued to represent a significant share, though they were each outsold by 2017's 8 and 8 Plus.
CIRP further claimed that 35% of U.S. iPhone owners are subscribed to Apple Music, and that 48% are on some level of paid iCloud storage plan. 15% are said to be using Apple News, though the firm didn't specify how many are paying for Apple News+.
"Success in services has varied, depending on the competition and how much of a head-start Apple has," wrote CIRP co-founder Mike Levin. "After Apple discontinued iTunes, Apple Music is its unified music service, yet its 35% share still puts it behind Spotify and Pandora."
Apple is just two months away from revealing 2019 iPhone models. These may lose 3D Touch, but gain triple-lens rear cameras on the successors to the XS and XS Max, and twin lenses on the XR's follow-up. The latter may also sport new colors.
Comments
But go with whatever makes you feel better about your personal financial situation
I agreed, while many pundits and experts keep telling everyone about the camera, lenses, and blah, blah, and the competition; the reality is that out of 1000’s of pictures taken, barely a 5 per cents are loaded to social networks, including personal emails. The truth is that those pictures are looked at less than 5 seconds, therefore, being wasted using memory, and advanced lenses and photography software. A professional uses, right, personal equipment, so why wasting money with useless expertise knowledge purchasing camera features that WON’T be used? The price for what the XR iPhone is, with the given the technology, the best in the market.
I think it would have sold a ton more had it had a smaller screen than the XS with a lower price.
Rather the XR provides excellent value and superior battery life to other iPhone models. Additionally it's a device which caters to those which are happy to swap certain premium features in exchange for a larger screen and lower entry price. Such as removing 3D Touch and using an LCD display instead of OLED. Without going into a long winded technical discussion, these changes are essentially invisible to the user while drawing down the cost of the device. (Also providing a good reason for premium buyers to purchase Xs models.)
Just a note to add: The fact that device sales are dividing into significant percentage categories is a good indication that Apple are reading the market correctly. If we saw that certain models were being marginalised, that would be an indication of the opposite.
2) No, but a lot of people are willing to use the provided interest-free loan that is the monthly payment system. It costs a third of a typical cable bill. Personally the X series is worth to me - the better screen, the steel-wrapped shell, etc. YMMV
These sales numbers are about as accurate as the weather forecast.
"Success in services has varied, depending on the competition and how much of a head-start Apple has," wrote CIRP co-founder Mike Levin. "After Apple discontinued iTunes, Apple Music is its unified music service, yet its 35% share still puts it behind Spotify and Pandora."
This must be some interesting math...
Assuming on 3 music services.
Apple = 35%
Spotify = 35.1%
Pandora = 35.1%
That means the total is greater than 100% for market share, and users are using multiple music services. These numbers are kind of meaningless without a pie chart that shows the overlap of users and services.
Also, are we removing the ad support users? Comparing an Apple Music subscription to ad supported would corrupt the results. We should probably look at revenue instead... (related to music) rather than market share.
A possible answer is that price can be the single most important impediment to a sale once you hit your customers price ceiling and run out of customers as a result?
You bought an X but didn't upgrade it the following year. You, and lots of other buyers. The problem is that there probably aren't enough buyers left out there to maintain the growth of higher priced models so those models suffer.
Yeah, yeah, I know, once you go "no home button" model, you never want to go back. Blah, blah, blah. None of the X series offered anything in which she was interested enough to pay that much more.
The Xs May be technically better, but for many/most people, it’s practically not any different. The extra $300 in your pocket is better, practically speaking.