The iPhone 6 is outselling the iPhone 6 Plus by a margin of 3-to-1 in the U.S., but that’s no knock on Apple’s giant-sized handset, according to a new report from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners.
The research firm’s sales breakdown looked at the first 30 days the iPhone 6 family of handsets were available to buy. It concluded that the iPhone 6 represented 68% of iPhone sales, with the iPhone 6 Plus making up 23-24%.
Combined, this means that the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus represented a massive 91-92% of iPhones sold in the United States. The remaining iPhones were previous generation iPhone 5s and 5c units. This figure is even more impressive when you consider that last year the then-new iPhones represented a smaller 84% of iPhone sales after the first month.
While a 3-to-1 ratio of 4.7-inch to 5.5-inch iPhones might sound bad for the iPhone 6 Plus, that’s not really the case.
Not only is the iPhone 6 Plus half of the most successful iPhone launch ever, constrained supply of the larger devices means that we’re not yet getting an accurate measure of the “phablet” device’s popularity. CIRP’s report goes on to note that the 6 Plus “could exceed expectations, especially in Asia.”
If correct, this tallies with previous reports that Apple has been taken by surprise by the larger-screened iPhone, and has had to shift production capacity accordingly — moving from an original 65:35 split in favor of the 4.7-inch iPhone 6, to a more even 55:45 ratio.
During Apple’s recent earning call Tim Cook himself noted that “it’s very difficult to gauge demand without first finding the balance.”
CIRP’s report also suggests that people are storing more on their iPhones this year, with the average storage capacity being 48GB — perhaps unsurprising given that Apple ditched its 32GB model in favor of larger storage options.
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.
11 responses to “iPhone 6 outsells its big brother 3-to-1 in U.S.”
Of course the iPhone 6 is outselling 3 to 1, but if you look at the lead time to get a phone, the iPhone 6+ has a longer lead time to get one, so it’s hard to figure out what the real demand is because we simply don’t know all of the numbers. Apple knows the numbers because they run the company, but us outsiders can only look at the numbers that get publicized.
I think once Apple gets caught up with demand and they have ample phones available, then we’ll get better numbers in terms of what’s selling. What I hate about early numbers is that they don’t always indicate reality.
Agreed. I had a terrible time to get hold of a 6 Plus. Hunted it like a maniac and grabbed it! I will say this, it is really pretty and massive battery life. Unfortunately, my wife took it away :(
divorce. no one touches a man’s iphone. just saying.
Repeating exactly what the article said. Stellar comment.
I think a lot of people are upgrading from iPhone 4S or previous and the iPhone 6+ size is just too big a jump for people to swallow. To go from 3.5″ screen to 4.7″ screen is a massive change. I think even for iPhone 5 users the size is a massive jump. I used to have a large sized HTC phone with 4.7″ size and I know how large it feels.
For me personally I would like to get the 6+ because it’s the best iPhone out there. It has the image stabilization for better picture and video and it has a better battery life as well. Not to mention the pixel density on the 6+ screen is much greater than the 6. It’s really better in every way.
I’d totally agree. For me the battery life has easily been the biggest and most welcome change. And how weird is it now to go back to even the 5s?
T-Mobile strangely was showing 6-8 weeks backorder for 6+ 128gig, but only in grey & silver versions. The gold was 7-10 days. I ordered a gold last weekend, and about 6 days later I get a message it shipped. I actually prefer the silver version, but this would ship so much sooner. I guess the gold fad is over now.
It’s because the 6 plus was harder to get and limited.
Finding an iPhone 6 is a lot easier than grabbing a plus!! I think a pole on if you had a choice. 6 or 6+. The plus would blow away the 6
Because that is the ratio at which Apple had them produced.
This is no surprise. They are less expensive, and not everyone needs a larger screen.