Apple's US iPhone Installed Base 'Continues to Plateau,' Says CIRP Analyst

The U.S. installed base of iPhones “continues to plateau,” said Consumer Intelligence Research Partners analyst Josh Lowitz in a Thursday report. CIRP estimated Q1 global sales of 39 million iPhones, derived from an estimated average selling price of $803 and disclosed Apple iPhone revenue. The U.S. installed base of iPhones reached 193 million at the end of Q1 up from 173 million in the year-ago quarter and 189 million at the end of the holiday quarter, CIRP said. U.S. sales have “flattened considerably” in the past two or three years, due to slowing unit sales and longer ownership periods, Lowitz noted. While 12 percent year on year growth “is still good,” investors had become accustomed to 5 percent or more quarterly growth and 20 percent annual growth, said the analyst. The trend “prompts investors to wonder if iPhone sales outside of the US will compensate, and places greater pressure on Apple’s determination to sell other products and services to the installed base of iPhone owners,” he said.