14 DAY TRIAL // Apple started sales of the iPhone XR a couple of weeks ago, and shipments kicked off last Friday in the biggest markets across the world.
And while this was one of the most anticipated releases, mostly because iPhone XR is the most affordable model unveiled this year, it looks like early sales are actually well behind expectations.
This is what Rosenblatt analysts say in a note to investors, explaining that sales of the iPhone XR are slower than the ones recorded by the much more expensive iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max.
Slow sales
On the other hand, the analysis indicates that iPhone XR is still selling better than iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, though Rosenblatt now estimates that Apple would ship only a maximum of 77 million units during the second half of the year, down from the original forecast of 85 million sold units.
“After tracking sell-through data from various retail channels, we believe initial iPhone XR sales are weaker than we expected and weaker than XS/XS Max sales,” the analysts explain.
“We estimate global first weekend sales of the iPhone XR to be ~9 million units, 1 million units lower than sales of the XS/XS Max in the first weekend. Compared to the iPhone 8/8Plus, we believe XR sales are better, although the 8 Plus faced some constraints and a smaller sell-through base.”
Despite being considered the more affordable iPhone, Apple’s new iPhone XR isn’t really a cheap product. In the United States, it is available from $749, and the price increases as more storage is added.
The device is available in wide array of colors, including yellow and green, and comes with just a single camera on the back, an LCD screen instead of OLED, and no 3D Touch, a feature that all the other iPhones currently support.