Trio of 2017 iPhones Has Smaller Share of Q4 Sales Compared With Gen 7 2016 Models, Says CIRP

The latest generation of iPhones had 61 percent of U.S. iPhone sales in Q4, led by the iPhone 8 at 24 percent, said Consumer Intelligence Research Partners Monday. The iPhone X followed at 20 percent and the iPhone 8 Plus had 17 percent of domestic iPhone sales. Despite the addition of a third model to the 2017 lineup, the three newest iPhones’ 61 percent share was below the 72 percent share of the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus a year earlier, said CIRP. Josh Lowitz, CIRP partner, called comparisons with earlier models “tricky,” noting the iPhone X wasn’t available for the full quarter. The Apple model pie is further divided, now with eight models, “the most ever,” he said. Apple launched the 2017 phones on a different schedule, announcing three new models at once, but delaying the launch of the most advanced and expensive one for five weeks after the launch of iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, said Lowitz. But “older models held their own,” said CIRP Partner Mike Levin. The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus grabbed almost a quarter of Q4 sales, and the 2-year-old iPhone 6s and 6s Plus had 8 percent, said Levin. “Apple priced these older models attractively, with little visible physical difference among the 6, 7, and 8 series models," he said, and “even the older, smaller-format SE maintained a meaningful share of total sales.” Larger screen phones continue to gain acceptance, said Lowitz, although the three Plus models available comprised 30 percent of total sales, down from 42 percent a year ago, he said. The iPhone X mixed things up as the additional 20 percent of iPhone buyers who bought the X, with an edge-to-edge screen size that’s larger than that of the iPhone 8 Plus, “suggests that more and more Apple customers find large-screen phones attractive,” Lowitz said. CIRP findings were based on a survey of 500 U.S. Apple customers who bought an iPhone, iPad or Mac from October to December.