Estimates Show Apple iPhone X Sales Are Less Than Stellar

Despite the hype leading up to the release of the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X, customers are buying these new offerings at about the same rate as models released in the past two years.

According to The Wall Street Journal, a survey of 300 iPhone buyers by technology analysis firm Consumer Intelligence Research Partners estimates that the iPhone X, iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus combined to account for 69 percent of U.S. iPhone sales for the month ending Dec. 3, with the remainder of sales going to older models.

Those numbers are surprising considering that the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus accounted for 73 percent of all iPhones sold in their first month in 2016, while the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus accounted for 71 percent in their first month in 2015. And the more successful iPhone 6 and 6 Plus accounted for 91 percent of iPhone sales in their first month in 2014.

But after its debut on Nov. 3, the iPhone X accounted for an estimated 30 percent of iPhone sales in its first month, as customers opted for lower-priced models or couldn’t find it in stock, according to Mike Levin, co-founder of Consumer Intelligence Research Partners.

“It’s a little disappointing, given the hype,” said Levin.

Those low numbers come after Apple touted the iPhone X as the future of the smartphone, with a sleek new design featuring an edge-to-edge display and a 3-D camera system that uses facial recognition to unlock the device – at a starting price of $999. Those factors gave investors hope for strong iPhone X sales.

Apple declined to comment, but the company is expected to give the first numbers on iPhone X sales early next year when it reports financial results for the current quarter, which it has predicted will deliver record-high revenue.

As of early December, the iPhone X accounted for 4 percent of all iPhone models in use globally, while the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus accounted for 6.3 percent, according to estimates from Localytics, which analyzes apps across 2.7 billion devices. The combined share of 10.3 percent is less than the 12.5 percent the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus had at the same point in 2016.

But Localytics co-founder Raj Aggarwal said the iPhone X performed better than he expected, given its premium price.

“It’s an awesome start, and you haven’t hit Christmas yet,” he said.