New research released in advance Apple’s AAPL’s March quarter results due April 28 show strong growth in its latest release iPhone.
what happened: Market research firm saw the largest share of the entire Apple iPhone 13 lineup in total U.S. iPhones sold in the March quarter Consumer Intelligence Research Partners said in its most recent report.
Apple launched its iPhone 13 iterations in mid-September 2021, including the iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone Pro Max, and iPhone 13 mini variants. These four variants accounted for nearly 75% of March quarter sales. A year ago, the then-new iPhone 12 models accounted for 61% of total U.S. iPhone sales
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Buyers still prefer Apple’s latest phones, despite the gradual improvements in models following the pandemic, CIRP said.
iPhone mini sales remain weak, with the mini versions of the iPhone 12 and 13 accounting for only 3% of total U.S. iPhone sales. There are reports that Apple will discontinue production of the iPhone mini this year.
The CIRP data also showed that iPhone buyers kept their old phones for less time, reversing a long-term trend, with only 20% of buyers keeping their previous iPhones for three years or more.
“As the market shifts towards unsubsidised handset sales on installment contracts, the time spent on older handsets is also climbing as users prefer to use their premium handsets. This trend has recently reversed, perhaps as trade-in options for higher-value handsets continue to improve ,” said Mike Levine CIRP Partner and Co-Founder.
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Why it matters: The iPhone 13’s improvements over the iPhone 12 are mostly iterative, with the price difference between the two models averaging about $50. Therefore, higher iPhone 13 sales will have a positive but modest impact on margins.
Data on faster upgrades to new models bodes well for sales and profit margins.
The next iteration of Apple’s budget model, the iPhone SE 3, is only available to customers on March 18 and is unlikely to have much of an impact on quarterly results.
Apple is expected to report earnings of $1.43 per share on revenue of $94.02 billion in the March quarter, according to Benzinga Pro. In the same period last year, these leading indicators were $89.6 billion and $1.40, respectively.
price action: Apple closed at $166.42 on Thursday, down 0.48%.
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