XR is the top-selling Apple smartphone in the US last year, while XS market share drops
Despite the iPhone XR not being very popular with the experts, and against the background of production cutdowns by manufacturer, it has become the top-selling Apple model in Q4 2018 in the United States.
The XR managed to account for 32% of all iPhone sales during the first month after its launch. Simultaneously, the XS duo took up 35%. The XR was on the rise, while the XS fell during the entire fourth quarter of 2018. In fact, 39% of all iPhones sold between October and December were XRs, and the numbers place it right up there on the pedestal with another top-selling single model, the iPhone 7 in 2016. Meanwhile, the XS and its fellow XS Max dropped to a 26% share of the market at the same time.
It’s important to note that the two XS models were launched in September, in Q3, while XR was delayed by one month. Thus, a significant share of the XS models’ sales results are not taken into account.
Curiously, the XS Max had significantly outperformed the regular XS (over 2-fold). Most often, the smaller model is more popular – a statement proven by the iPhone 6, 7 and 8.
The fact that the XR sells so well is not necessarily a cheerful fact for Apple, since it’s the most affordable of last year’s models. Even with that in mind, Apple smartphones are still rather pricey - the average selling price in Q4 2018 has gone up to $800.
What is the reason? The basic 2018 storage option (64GB) was not sufficient for as many customers, and many paid for an upgrade. That comes out to at least $50 for the XR and as much as $150 for the XS models.
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