iPhone 5 was launched in September and although the terminal sold very well, this year Apple sold more old iPhone models than in previous years. If last year the iPhone 4S represented 90% of iPhone terminal sales in its first month of availability on the market, this year iPhone 5 represented only 68% of sales in the same period. This difference is due to the fact that users prefer to buy more iPhone 4/4S at lower prices than iPhone 5, their availability on the market seriously affecting the sales of the new device.
This is all about how the pie is sliced. In the current launch, the 4 and 4S slices are bigger, relative to the 5 slice than the 3GS and 4 slices were relative to the 4S slice during the previous launch. Similarly, the 64 gigabyte slice is smaller, relative to the 16GB and 32GB slices of the 5 than the 64GB slice was relative to the 16GB and 32GB slices of the 4S when it was launched. ASP compression naturally leads to margin compression, which is a big fear of Apple shareholders as their markets become more competitive
For Apple, this reorientation of buyers' preferences is not really that beneficial because the purchase of cheap terminals brings a decrease in the profit generated by each sale. If at iPhone 5 Apple earns a few hundred dollars/euro for each sale, with the iPhone 4/4S the profit is much lower due to the low price. The world asked Apple for cheap iPhones, the company sells them, but this seriously affects it, but in the long term there is little chance that the Americans will return to the old strategy.
