iPhone X sales ‘below’ expectations due to price, says key analyst
Apple’s iPhone X may have performed worse than expected in terms of sales, according to one key analyst.
This year, Apple debuted the iPhone X – a powerful and expensive smartphone – to mark the 10-year anniversary since the very first iPhone. Packed with high-end features, it’s by far the most advanced iPhone ever built – but it’s ludicrously pricy, ranging from £999 to £1,149 for the top spec.
It seems that exorbitant pricing has not gone down well with consumers, either. According to Cowen analyst Karl Ackerman, the iPhone X doesn’t offer enough incentive in terms of features to justify the high pricing.
In a note to clients (as reported by Bloomberg), Ackerman explained that early shipping delays for the iPhone X don’t necessarily mean there’s been higher-than-usual phone sales.
“Some investors may conclude this relates to better sales momentum for the X,” wrote Ackerman, “but we are increasingly concerned that demand has been below initial expectations as users appear to have gravitated toward the previous iPhone models.”
He added that sales so far have been “good, but not yet indicative of a ‘super cycle’”.
Ackerman suggests that sales across all iPhone models are expected to total around 79 million in the three months running up to December. That’s a very marginal increase over the 78 million units flogged in the same period last year, but not as high as Apple may have hoped given the efforts required to produce the impressive iPhone X.
The iPhone X launched in the UK on November 3, and is the most expensive Apple smartphone ever sold to date.
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