iPhones will continue to remain super-expensive products, despite the arrival of a new supposedly more affordable configuration, but this shouldn’t affect sales by any means.
This is what KeyBanc Capital Markets said in a recent investor note, explaining that iPhones getting bigger displays is the main factor driving sales these days.
The analysts looked back at the iPhone 6 and said one of the reasons for the record sales that generation recorded was the addition of a Plus model with a 5.5-inch display.
“This was evident in the iPhone 6 cycle, where a step-up in screen size drove both pricing and volume, and in the iPhone X cycle, where a larger screen in a similar-sized form factor drove strong pricing power,” they explained.
Three bigger iPhones
This year’s iPhone generation will bring us a trio of products, all with bigger displays than the previous models.
First of all, there’ll be a successor to the iPhone X and featuring a 5.8-inch OLED screen. Then, the lineup will include a 6.1-inch LCD configuration, while the third version will be a bigger iPhone X sibling with a 6.5-inch OLED panel.
Interestingly, the analysts believe that while Apple won’t necessarily sell more units of this new iPhone generation, mostly because “the high-end smartphone market is saturated,” the Average Selling Price (ASP) will increase thanks to the bigger price of new models.
“We do not expect significant growth in iPhone unit volume…[but] we expect the new LCD iPhone to price at a premium to the blended ASP for the iPhone 8/8+ and for the new larger OLED iPhone to price at a premium to the current iPhone X. This combination should drive the overall iPhone ASP up modestly in fiscal 2019,” they said.
If a recent report is anything to be believed, the cheaper iPhone will start at $699 this year, while the most expensive is likely to go well beyond the $1,200 milestone.