Apple’s iPhone 6 may be its best seller this year, but don’t discount the important role played by the device’s big brother — Apple’s 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus model.
When Apple unveiled its answer to Android’s phablet phenomenon last September, iPhone 6 Plus proved the sorely needed catalyst for converting many Android users who simply never made the switch to iOS because they enjoy using larger mobile phones.
Today, according to new data from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, Apple’s iPhone 6 is beating iPhone 6 Plus sales in the U.S. by a margin of 3-to-1. But make no mistake about it. iPhone 6 Plus is not a sales dud. It’s winning some of Android’s market share for Apple.
Although we don’t yet have a breakdown of Apple-confirmed sales numbers, it is almost universally viewed among analysts and market watchers that iPhone 6 sales are primarily attributed to consumers who have previously owned an iPhone. With regard to iPhone 6 Plus sales, a growing number of analysts believe Apple’s version of the phablet is the bigger draw between the two new devices for first-time iPhone buyers (longtime Android users).
“The sales breakdown from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners applies to the first 30 days of iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus availability in the U.S. Summarizing the data, analyst Steven Milunovich of UBS noted that the iPhone 6 accounted for 68 percent of all iPhone sales, while the iPhone 6 Plus took between 23 and 24 percent,” Apple Insider reported last week.
