An earlier Consumer Intelligence Research Partners report emphasised that Apple had grabbed half of the total smartphone sales for the December quarter. Now the market research company is back with new details about iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus sales.
You may recall that Apple had supply issues with the bigger, iPhone 6 Plus models, so that obviously skewed the numbers favouring the 4.7-inch iPhone 6. Also, the 5.5-inch screen is not for everyone, and Apple also charged a $100 premium for that screen upgrade.
What the CIRP study reveals is that US customers are willing to pay more for the iPhone if they get more (screen real estate for example). In numbers, this means that the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus models accounted for three-quarters of all iPhones sold in the holiday quarter, with the iPhone 6 at 45%, and iPhone 6 Plus at 30%, as shown in the chart below.
“The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus showed continued strength after the powerful launch at the end of the third quarter” said Josh Lowitz, CIRP Partner and Co-Founder. “Apple introduced a new higher price point with the iPhone 6 Plus, and with new pricing sold more units at higher storage capacities. We expect the average selling price to increase nicely when they report earnings on January 27.”
Interestingly, the iPhone 5s accounted for 59% of all (51 million) sales, and the iPhone 5c for 27% for Q4 2013, according to CIRP’s data. That’s 86% of all iPhone sales for that quarter, much higher than the 75% of the iPhone 6.
As for iPad sales, the iPad Air 2 continued to dominate the market. Together with the one-year-old iPad Air, it grabbed half of all Apple tablet sales for the December quarter.
