Last year, Apple’s event introduced the world to the improved iPhone X, the iPhone XS and a larger iPhone XS Max. However, the wildcard of the event was the iPhone XR. This device was the budget option, with a cheaper LCD screen vs the XS’s OLED, one less camera and a chunkier, less refined design… Whilst our data shows a rather healthy launch for the XS, the XR’s launch the following month was +146% times larger.
Following its launch, the iPhone XR has continued to be the best seller not only within the iPhone market, but amongst all handsets sold across the network… The data to date shows Apple’s share has grown even despite gains from the likes of Huawei and Google. We believe the data shows that the iPhone XR is the sole reason for this. You could even say that the iPhone XR saved Apple.
We anticipate the iPhone 11 will continue the XR’s legacy and remain the bestselling iPhone of this year’s releases… The iPhone XR remaining on sale at £649 may allow Apple to test performance against the likes of Huawei.
MacDailyNews Take: Most analysts and Apple themselves expected and planned for the iPhone XR to be the best-selling iPhone model, just as most analysts and Apple expect iPhone 11 to do the same. The fact that Apple just released the high-end iPhone 11 Pro and flagship iPhone 11 Pro Max at the same price points as the XS and XS Max, show that their strategy remains the same, albeit they’re going for the jugular by dropping iPhone 11’s starting price by $50. It will certainly be interesting to see the mix with iPhone XR remaining in the family and starting at just $599. The performance of the XR in this cycle will tell Apple much about iPhone pricing and mix for sure!
The iPhone XR… will be the mass market iPhone, as Apple intends. They’ll move untold millions of them and, in the process, move 100+ million iPhone users from the antiquated Home button control paradigm into the gestural promised land. — MacDailyNews, September 13, 2018
As expected and intended, iPhone 11 will be the mass market iPhone for this cycle. iPhone 11 Pro is for those who prefer a smaller premium iPhone and for whom battery life is not a concern. Apple’s flagship iPhone 11 Pro Max, our choice and what we’ll be ordering, is the new King of All iPhones with its sumptuous 6.5-inch, 2688 x 1242 resolution, 458 PPI OLED display and the longest battery life in an iPhone (up to five hours more than our current iPhone XS Max units)! – MacDailyNews, September 12, 2019
