“There’s the theory out there, sometimes repeated in Apple article comments, that the iPhone 6s will be favored by the iPhone 5s bump. This is based on iPhone 5s users coming off contract and finally being able to upgrade to the iPhone 6s,” Paulo Santos writes for Seeking Alpha. “No such bump is to be expected [by me].”
“The larger display was the main selling point of the iPhone 6. There was certainly massive pent-up demand for a larger Apple smartphone, as Android had larger displays for years. That pent-up demand exhausted itself when Apple launched the iPhone 6,” Santos writes. “Indeed, it’s likely that the iPhone 6 got more upgraders from the previous generation than any time before, so more people probably already upgraded from the iPhone 5s than one would expect.”
“The iPhone 6s will provide rather limited new features. It’s bound to have a faster SoC, it will finally have a higher-resolution camera and it will include Force Touch,” Santos writes. “The faster SoC and Force Touch should either be rather imperceptible ((SoC)) or a gimmick (Force Touch). In short, these aren’t the kind of features which drive a massive migration like the large display did.”
“Finally, and this is the most important point, the iPhone 5s did not make for a huge jump in unit sales itself,” Santos writes. “This, together with the fact that it’s likely more 5s users than usual already went for the larger display on the iPhone 6, means there’s no much-increased base [from which] to draw upgraders. That said, this isn’t necessarily a large negative. Why? Because it looks like the market already expects it in a way… An Apple investor would do well to be conservative in his buying/holding of the stock. It’s likely that he’ll get a lot of chances to buy lower.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Only some 27% of iPhone users so far have upgraded to iPhone 6/Plus. And, the only people who think Force Touch is a “gimmick” are those who’ve never really used an Apple Force Touch device.
Apple makes the arrogant assumption of thinking that it knows what you want and need. It, unfortunately, leaves the “why” out of the equation — as in “why would I want this?” The Macintosh uses an experimental pointing device called a “mouse.” There is no evidence that people want to use these things. I don’t want one of these newfangled devices. — John C. Dvorak, 1984
SEE ALSO:
Apple’s Force Touch: The future of mobile interfaces – August 4, 2015
Why Force Touch on the iPhone will be awesome – July 29, 2015
Apple’s Force Touch iPhone 6s to be major differentiator, put rivals at further disadvantage – July 6, 2015
Apple assemblers begin making next-gen iPhones with Force Touch – June 27, 2015
Analyst: Apple’s ‘iPhone 6s’ to feature stronger 7000 series aluminum, slightly thicker for Force Touch – June 17, 2015
Apple’s new Force Touch patent application reveals stylus, virtual paint brush, 3D buttons interactions – May 28, 2015
Apple’s forthcoming iOS 9 supports ‘iPhone 6s’ Force Touch – May 26, 2015
Apple patent application reveals work on Force Touch for iOS devices and more – March 5, 2015
Force Touch rumored to arrive exclusively on ‘iPhone 6s Plus’ – April 2, 2015
Apple’s next-gen iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus to feature Force Touch – February 28, 2015