Apple releases four smartphone models every year – at first this strategy helped the company increase sales, but by now it has exhausted itself in its current form. Perhaps the iPhone Air will revive the line. This model promises to be thinner, technically simpler, but also the most expensive of the quartet, writes CNBC.
Image source: apple.com
When Steve Jobs returned to head Apple in 1997, the first thing he did was simplify the company’s product line, leaving only four computers: two laptops and two desktops – one each for home and work. Almost three decades have passed, and the company’s product range has expanded significantly. This year alone there were four iPads, four MacBooks, two desktop Macs, one Vision Pro, two Apple Watch models and three AirPods. And since 2020, Apple has been releasing four phones a year; this year they were iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max.
Historically, iPhone sales have experienced their strongest growth when smartphone lineups have expanded. Apple does not publish data on sales of individual products, but it is known that total iPhone sales at the end of the 2024 financial year amounted to $201.18 billion – this figure remained almost unchanged compared to 2022. And not all iPhones are equally popular. Every year since 2020, one of the new iPhone models has lagged behind its peers in sales. This year it’s the iPhone 16 Plus, which sits in the middle of the lineup. At $899, it’s more expensive than the base iPhone 16, but cheaper than the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max, which have better screens and more powerful processors.
The shares of the iPhone Pro and Pro Max show annual growth, while for the Plus model, according to data on display purchase volumes, the share decreased from 21% in 2022 to 10% in 2023, according to statistics from the research company DSCC. This year, display orders for the Plus model have risen to 16%, the lowest of any new iPhone. Other sources also confirm that the Plus model lags behind its peers. The iPhone 16 Plus accounted for 4% of total US iPhone sales in the third quarter, while the Pro and Pro Max each accounted for 6% of sales, according to a survey by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners. However, the same 4% is demonstrated by the base iPhone 16. The latest model only partially showed up in the third quarter of 2024, but the statistics correspond to last year’s data, when the iPhone 15 Plus gained only 3% of total sales during the month of sales. The first three places in the ranking of the best-selling smartphones worldwide in the third quarter, according to Counterpoint, were taken by the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max – the Plus model was not even included in the top ten.
Apple introduced the iPhone in 2007 and for a long time released one model per year. In 2014, with the release of the iPhone 6 Plus, the smartphone debuted in two sizes, and sales grew by at least 27% for three consecutive quarters. In 2017, the iPhone X was released – the line expanded to three models, and the price of the top version increased; after that, sales growth was more than 15% for three quarters in a row. Apple moved to a four-phone lineup in 2020, and sales jumped 54% in the first quarter, albeit partly due to the pandemic; Since then, iPhone sales have remained virtually unchanged.
At the same time, the iPhone Mini appeared – the cheapest of the new phones cost $699. Apple released a similar model in 2021 because a number of customers clamored for smaller phones, but the move didn’t pay off and the company dropped the device with a 5.4-inch screen. In 2022, the manufacturer changed its approach and released the iPhone 14 Plus, which differed from the basic iPhone 14 only in screen size—the share of orders for screens for this model was 21%. But the Plus strategy did not bring success.
Apple, analysts believe, intends to continue to adhere to the four-phone strategy, but will slightly change its approach in an attempt to find a fourth successful model in the 2025 line. And this fourth model, instead of Mini in the initial area or Plus in the middle of the line, will apparently be the new Air, which will lead it. This will be a lighter and more expensive device. Despite the price tag, this iPhone will have more modest technical specifications due to its thinner body: while the iPhone Pro has three cameras, the Air will have only one; The iPhone Air will have a 6.55-inch screen diagonal, right between the display sizes of this year’s Pro and Pro Max models.
Releasing a new leader in the lineup makes sense for Apple. In recent years, the Pro Max versions have been the best-selling models, indicating that demand for the most capable models is higher than for budget offerings. In October, Apple said it had enough inventory of the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus to meet demand, while some shortages remained for the Pro and Pro Max. The phones at the top of the line are also popular outside the United States: for example, in the first three weeks, the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max models in China showed a 44% increase in sales compared to last year’s counterparts.
The fate of Air versions in different lines of Apple devices is also interesting. In 2008, the company introduced the first MacBook Air – a laptop so compact that it fit in an envelope. At first it was more expensive than other Mac computers, but over time it became the entry-level laptop in Apple’s range. In 2013, the iPad Air entered the market and settled in the middle of the line. The release of the most expensive iPhone Air in the line will likely help Apple further increase phone sales and strengthen the company’s trend toward an increase in the average selling price; the phone will also gather around itself fans of the brand and those who decided to join them.