Numbers of new model iPhone sales larger than expected

This year, Apple decided not to give us opening period sales due to supply constraints. Cupertino chose to delay any figures until its earnings call on October 25th. However, new Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) reports are able to give a good insight into iPhone sales of this quarter.

CIRP claim that the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus accounted for 43% of all the iPhone sales in Q3. This in itself is not surprising in the slightest, given that many users wait for the new model to launch and delay their purchase. With that said, consider that the two new models were only available for the last two weeks of the quarter.

Numbers of new model iPhone sales larger than expected

iPhone sales figures

Apple doesn’t split out the sales of its individual models and only give an overview of total sales, but thankfully CIRP does! The regular sized model accounted for 31% of those sales, while the larger Plus model made up another 12%. Surprisingly the iPhone SE accounted for 9% of the sales, so there clearly is a high demand for a more pocket-friendly version.

In a quarter with only two weeks of sales, iPhone 7 and 7 Plus grabbed significant share of iPhones sold. We attribute this to slow iPhone sales in the weeks leading up to the launch of these two new models, as well as a positive reception for the new 7 and 7 Plus models. – Josh Lowitz, CIRP partner and co-founder

With so many great handsets available on the market, and the Google Pixel even providing a system to transfer over to an Android phone, Apple is clearly still holding onto the majority of its users. 36% of iPhone sales were upgrades from a version of the iPhone 6, whether it be the iPhone 6 or 6 Plus. Additionally, the yearly upgrade fanboys were out in force, given that 17% of sales were people upgrading from last year’s version.

Some reports of iPhone 7 sales have worried that major supply shortages would dramatically limit sales. Many users have struggled to get their hands on the phone model they wanted, or have resorted to long waits. However this clearly hasn’t affected sales as much as previsouly thought.