Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP), has released analysis of the results from its research on Apple) for the fiscal quarter that ended June 27, 2020.
CIRP finds that the new iPhone 11 and 11 Pro/Pro Max models accounted for 65% of US iPhone sales during the quarter ending April 2020. The new iPhone SE accounted for 19% of US iPhone sales during the quarter.
“The fall 2019 iPhone 11 and 11 Pro models remain the most popular, combining for around two-thirds of sales” says Josh Lowitz, CIRP partner and co-founder. “Comparison again are tricky, with the launch of iPhone SE at the end of April 2020. A year ago, iPhone XR took almost half of sales in the quarter. This year, sales were divided among more diverse models, with even the lowest-priced and ultimately retired iPhone 8 and 8 Plus having 8% of sales.
At the end of this past quarter, Apple has a simpler lineup than in the past, with just the XR, 11, 11 Pro, 11 Pro Max, and new SE. Within that lineup, the iPhone SE accounted for a decent share at 19%, even though it was available for only a portion of the quarter. At $399 for the base model, SE comes is priced well below the year-old XR, and very successfully replaces the almost three- year-old iPhone 8 models at the entry price point, says Lowitz.
For the iPhone SE, CIRP determined that Apple customers were more likely to upgrade from another iPhone, generally a significantly older model.
“Every few years Apple comes out with a new low-priced iPhone, with up-to-date features, to sweep up the customers using the oldest iPhones,” said Mike Levin, CIRP partner and co-founder. “The iPhone SE seems to have reached this specific segment of long-time iPhone users. Even though operating system switching has diminished in recent years, even more SE buyers came from within the iOS installed base compared to buyers for other iPhone models. And, in the quarter, SE buyers had really old phones, with almost three-quarters having an iPhone that was three years old or more. So, they upgraded from iPhone 5, 6, or 7 models, which meant these users really waited awhile to buy a new phone.”
CIRP bases its findings on its survey of 500 US Apple customers that purchased an iPhone, iPad, Mac computer, or Apple Watch in the April-June 2020 period.
