A recent survey has revealed that there are two important reasons why customers decided not to upgrade to Apple’s iPhone X when it was first launched in 2017.
Seeking to figure out why the iPhone X hasn’t shattered sales records like many were anticipating, Piper Jaffray analyst Michael Olson recently issued a research note detailing a survey of 1,500 existing iPhone owners. The most interesting aspect of the note centers on why iPhone owners haven’t yet opted to upgrade to the iPhone X.
According to the results, 44% of respondents indicated that they didn’t upgrade because their current iPhone model works fine.
Meanwhile, 31% of respondents didn’t upgrade because they found the iPhone X — with its $1319 CAD entry price — to be far too expensive. Additionally, 8% of respondents didn’t upgrade because they prefer a device with a larger screen.
“The takeaway from our survey is that a larger screen and lower priced option would address the concerns of ~40% of iPhone owners that have not upgraded,” reads the report. “Despite investor uncertainty around iPhone X, we recommend owning AAPL on potential for a ‘super-long’ cycle driven by a wider array of ‘X-gen’ devices.”
Olson, who has an Outperform rating on Apple shares, and a $200 price target, at the same time cuts his fiscal 2018 estimate for iPhone sales, to 226.3 million units from a prior estimate for 230 million, although he now thinks his his estimate for 2019, 233.79 million units, may now be “conservative.”
Olson expects Apple “will launch a wider array of next-gen iPhones, including an updated flagship (Xs), a larger screen version (Xs Plus) and a lower priced option (some combination of discounted iPhone X and an X ‘Lite’)” later this year, echoing rumors over the past several months.
