Current Year iPhones Dominate, But Why?

Amazingly, not since iPhone 7 and 7 Plus have the current year iPhones accounting for a higher percentage of overall US iPhone sales. In 2017, that year’s new models made up 81% of US iPhone model sales. Of course, the lineup was a lot smaller, with only the prior year’s 6S and 6S Plus, and an early SE model competing for sales.

The iPhone lineup expanded, and Apple now has four current-year phones attracting customers. Yet there are eight models available overall, including phones introduced in 2020 and 2021, at presumably attractive low(er) prices. Still, the current year models dominate. We think we have a few possible explanations.

In the quarter ending June 30, 2023, the four iPhone 14 models - iPhone 14, 14 Plus, 14 Pro, and 14 Pro Max - together accounted for 79% of all US iPhone sales. This represents an increase over the 76% of sales for the four iPhone 13 models in the June 2022 quarter (Table 1).