This year, Apple has remained especially conservative when it comes to improvements to its iPhone 16 lineup. Aside from the usual chip upgrades and a new Camera Control button, there aren’t many other notable hardware updates. The company seems to be banking heavily on Apple Intelligence as a key selling point. However, the iPhone 16 few improvements are being reflected in a slow start in terms of sales in the US.
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard about lower-than-expected demand for the iPhone 16 series. This applies primarily to the vanilla and Plus variants, as shipments of the Pro and Pro Max models remain relatively strong. Interest in the “iPhone Plus” models from the past few years is trending downwards, so Apple is likely to replace it with a slimmer iPhone 17 Air next year.
iPhone 16 series sales show a slow start in the US
The latest report from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) agrees with others about the popularity of the iPhone 16 series. The data focuses on iPhone device sales in the United States during the third quarter of the year (Q3 2024). This period also includes the first few weeks of sales of the iPhone 16 series (until September).
According to the source, the base iPhone 16 accounted for only 4% of iPhone device sales during Q3 2024. For reference, the base iPhone 15 accounted for 10% of total iPhone sales during the same period in 2023. The iPhone 16 Plus also accounted for 4% of iPhone sales after the first few weeks of availability. The iPhone 16 Pro accounted for 6% of total iPhone sales, matching the figures of its predecessor last year. Meanwhile, the iPhone 16 Pro Max took another 6% of the total, down from 9% of the iPhone 15 Pro Max in 2023.
The iPhone 15 series was more popular at launch
The lack of big improvements in the new models seems to be pushing many to buy previous models. The iPhone 15 Pro Max took 22% of the iPhone sales pie for Q3 2024. This high percentage is expected given that the research focuses on iPhone sales from July to September, and the iPhone 16 series hasn’t been available for that long. Still, it is not surprising that the iPhone 15 Pro Max is very popular. Not only is it cheaper than the 16 Pro Max, but it also supports Apple Intelligence.
In fact, combined sales of the iPhone 16 series for Q3 2024 are below those of the iPhone 15 series for Q3 2023. The new-gen models take 20% of the pie compared to the 28% of their predecessors.
iPhone 16 series’ initial sales were below iPhone 15’s in the US
