Neil Hughes
Though the iPhone 4S is now more than two and a half years old, it continues to be a strong seller for Apple, with one new estimate suggesting it accounted for 25 percent of iPhones sold by the company last quarter, drawing in nearly 10 million new users to the ecosystem.
Analyst Charlie Wolf of Needham & Company issued a note to investors on Wednesday, a copy of which was provided to AppleInsider, in which he broke down the pricing on Apple's iPhone models to estimate how strong of a performer the iPhone 4S was in the March quarter. Such steps are necessary because Apple does not break down sales on a model-by-model basis.
Apple revealed that the average selling price of the iPhone was $596 last quarter, divided between the $650 starting price for the iPhone 5s, $550 entry price for the iPhone 5c, and $450 tag for the iPhone 4S.
Wolf estimates that the iPhone 5s accounted for 71 percent of March quarter sales, while the iPhone 5c took just 4 percent. That means the iPhone 4S would have taken the remaining 25 percent of sales for the three-month span.
While Apple didn't break down sales of individual models, the company did reveal that the iPhone 4S was a strong performer in the quarter, and served an important role in bringing new users into the ecosystem. Specifically, Apple revealed that 85 percent of iPhone 4S buyers were new to the iPhone platform.
As a result, Wolf believes that the iPhone 4S alone brought in about 10 million new iPhone customers last quarter. Given Apple's extraordinary ability to retain customers, the analyst said these figures challenge the notion that the company must introduce a more affordable iPhone to reach emerging markets such as China, India and Brazil.
"On innumerable occasions in the past, Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, has repeated the mantra that Apple would not stray from its strategy of building the aspirational brand in the smartphone market," Wolf wrote. "If Apple can have its cake and eat it too, Apple and the iPhone could enjoy a prosperous future."
Strong sales of the iPhone 4S helped Apple to exceed expectations in the March quarter, growing sales by 17 percent to 43.7 million total units.
The iPhone 4S has proven so popular that Apple has opted to keep the model around, even as it has launched in some markets a new, lower-priced 8-gigabyte model of the larger-screened and more powerful iPhone 5c.
The iPhone 4S first launched in October of 2011, and its defining feature was the debut of Siri, Apple's voice-driven personal assistant. It featured the same design and 3.5-inch display as its predecessor, the iPhone 4, but boasted faster internal components and an improved camera.
Apple keeps previous-generation iPhone models as part of its lineup after it debuts new models in order to hit lower price points and appeal to different segments of the market. While the iPhone 4S sells for $450 U.S. unsubsidized, some carriers offer the handset for free with a new two-year service contract.
Wesley Hilliard
AppleInsider Staff
Christine McKee
Andrew O'Hara
William Gallagher
92 Comments
The reasoning for its popularity has two undeniable driving factors: Price & Size. While Price is going to be a driving factor, I'm sure there are people out there that simply want a smaller device. While I don't expect Apple to continue to offer 3.5" screens forever, its worth noting that the 4" display size is going to remain important for years to come, even if the flagship device is only available as 4.7". I still think Apple should be redesigning and producing a new 4" model to accompany this year's 4.7" model.
I'm using a 5 now, but I miss the size of the 4. The 5 in my jeans pocket pokes me when I sit down. If the rumors are true on the 6, I may have bought my last iPhone, at least until Apple figures out that different people want different size phones.
It's a proof that Apple got it right with the iPhone design, even the old "4S" model is still selling..
I love my 4S but those prices feel too high given what you can buy for the same money on the Android side. Just saying. I wish Apple would introduce new phones and drop the price of the 4S by half.
Hey it's the "let's make the 5C sales look as bad as possible" reports. I doubt the 4S is outselling the 5C.