IPhone Sales Skew Slightly to Premium Models as Entry-Level Share Shrinks, Says Report

Apple could see an uptick in average selling price for iPhones, said Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) co-founder Josh Lowitz in a Thursday report: In the first full quarter of iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus sales, the latest Apple models generated nearly three-fourths of the company’s smartphone sales in the quarter ended Dec. 31. The iPhone 7 was 40 percent of U.S. iPhone sales and the iPhone 7 Plus 32 percent, which CIRP said was a “slightly higher percentage” of iPhone sales than the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus had in the year-ago quarter. The highest priced iPhone 7 Plus had a larger share than the 6s Plus, and the entry-level SE had a smaller share of iPhone sales than the similarly positioned 5s, said the research firm. Among iPhone 7 and 7 Plus buyers, 16 percent upgraded from the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, and 37 percent upgraded from previous generation phones. The 7 and 7 Plus models attracted “mostly loyal iPhone owners, rather than Android owners,” said Mike Levin, CIRP co-founder. Only 15 percent of 7 and 7 Plus buyers switched from an Android phone, consistent with the 14 percent of iPhone 6s and 6s Plus buyers who jumped from Android in the year-ago quarter. CIRP surveyed 500 U.S. Apple customers Dec. 31-Jan.12.