The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus both play a key position in Apple’s next earnings report, and naturally Wall Street is expecting great things. Morgan Stanley analysts expect the company to beat estimates in this month’s report, and analysts at multiple firms have suggested that there’s a mix shift from the iPhone 6 to the higher margin iPhone 6 Plus underway.
Now there’s new data that seems to confirm that this mix shift is indeed going on, particularly in China. Of course this would mean good thing for Apple’s earnings report if the findings are accurate.
Survey suggests strong iPhone 6 Plus sales in China
AppLovin Data shared a copy of its latest report on iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus sales in the U.S. and China with ValueWalk. The report indicates that in China, the ratio of iPhone 6 to iPhone 6 Plus was 60 / 40 in favor of the iPhone 6, based on measurements of usage of the devices.
However, that’s an increase from the previous report at the end of October when the ratio was estimated to be 65 / 35. Also usage of the iPhone 6 Plus compared to the iPhone 6 in China has been rising steadily.
In the U.S., the iPhone 6 to iPhone 6 Plus ratio shifted from 80 / 20 in favor of the iPhone 6 at the end of October to 75 / 25 as of earlier this month.
Is Apple selling more iPhone 6 Plus models?
The folks at AppLovin pointed out that the first iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus handsets that were fired up in the first six weeks of availability are still being used. As a result, the new devices added since then dilute that original ratio when attempting to look at sales numbers.
For example, they say it’s possible the ratio of iPhone 6 to iPhone 6 Plus handset sales is getting close to 55 / 45 in favor of the iPhone 6. Looking only at usage, this is hard to determine, so they looked at day to day iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus usage in China and found more evidence that the iPhone 6 Plus is gaining in popularity.
