Apple’s 5.5-inch “phablet” iPhone 6 Plus may still be in short supply, but according to supply chain sources it’s likely to wind up accounting for a whopping 60% of total iPhone 6 family shipments.
Prior to the iPhone 6 Plus’ official announcement, analysts were predicting the plus-sized iPhone 6 would make up a tiny fraction of the sales of its smaller sibling. Taiwan’s Topology Research Institute predicted that of the 80 million iPhone 6 family units it forecast would sell by the end of 2014, the iPhone 6 would account for 70 million, while the 6 Plus would sell only between 8 and 10 million units during that same timeframe.
These revised estimates are based on the recent shipments of analog integrated circuits to iPhone 6 and 6 Plus manufacturers Foxconn Electronics and Pegatron Technology.
Foxconn is said to be responsible for the production of the iPhone 6 Plus, while Pegatron makes the iPhone 6. Shipments of ICs were reportedly even in the early days, but Foxconn has been receiving more shipments recently.
The report also claims that these higher-than-expected sales for the iPhone 6 Plus may hurt the sale of 7.9-inch iPad mini. This chimes with what we reported last month, when we suggested that the next iPad mini with Retina Display may not debut until the first quarter 2015 to differentiate it from Apple’s biggest ever iPhone.
Source: Digitimes
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
7 responses to “Size matters: iPhone 6 Plus could make up 60% of iPhone shipments”
I think this time around there is pent up demand for larger iPhones, even largest iPhones. I’m considering the 6+ myself. There could be an unusual slingshot of sales because of this.
Apple seems to be about timing, along with waiting for technology improvements. Indeed, they waited for Apple Pay to coincide with a law forcing retailers to upgrade their point-of-sale terminals so that adding NFC would be a relatively small upgrade. This might make Apple Pay seem to have caused NFC adoption out of proportion with reality.
Apple is slick this way, developing ideas and waiting for technology to catch up and for legal necessity to provide opportunity. And watching the market and making people wait for things like larger iPhones so that sales will boom when released.
Of the people that I know that have the 6 not a one got the plus.
I want an iPhone 6 Mini….or maybe an iPhone 6-
Even the iPhone 6 is too damn big.
The 5/5S had the perfect form factor.
Big is better.
I held one. I can still do stuff one handed. I am fine with the 6 myself.
I don’t know what to say about this projection other than most of the iPhone 6/6+’s I’ve seen people carrying around are the 6’s, not the Pluses, so they are going to have to ramp up production and sales to meet this projection.
16 days since I ordered a 128gb 6+ from apple in the UK, just another 10 days to wait according to their 3-4 weeks delivery info