Apple has reportedly sold more iPhone 7 Plus models than the iPhone 7 during the 2016 December quarter.
The company is expected to release its financial results for the fourth quarter soon and analysts estimate that the company has managed to sell 78 million iPhones in the December quarter. This is a 4 percent increase in sales when compared to the same period in 2015.
The trend is an unusual one as the more expensive model — the iPhone 7 Plus — has outsold the cheaper sibling — the iPhone 7.
Industry sources also reveal that iPhone 7 Plus has sold more units compared to any other iPhone Plus models from Apple.
iPhone 7 Plus: Why It Outsold The iPhone 7
The iPhone 7 Plus is equipped with better features, as well as an improved battery life and more RAM when compared to the iPhone 7. Analysts attribute this to be the contributing factor behind the iPhone 7 Plus' high sales figure in the December quarter.
Another aspect of the device faring better than the iPhone 7 is the consumer preference to opt for a device that sports a bigger 5-inch screen. The price of the iPhone 7 Plus starts at $769 and the smartphone also boasts a dual camera, which offers the Portrait mode capability. It also offers better zooming abilities, which are notably missing in the smaller sibling iPhone 7 priced at about $649.
The iPhone 7 Plus also comes equipped with a dual camera technology apart from combining two sensors in order to function 2x optical zoom purposes.
According to latest estimates from analysts Cowen & Co., the iPhone 7 Plus is said to have sold 24 million devices compared to iPhone 6s Plus, which sold 15.5 million units during the 2015 December quarter.
Cowen & Co figures have also indicated that out of the total 58.5 million iPhone 7 devices sold all over the world, at least 40 percent were iPhone 7 Plus handsets.
"They pulled that [pricing] lever like never before," stated Tim Arcuri, an analyst with Cowen.
Figures by Creative Strategies, a market research firm further reveals that Apple witnessed a 52 percent increase in sales for the iPhone 7 Plus in the Chinese market in the December 2016 quarter, when compared to its predecessor iPhone 6s which garnered 40 percent of the total sales in China in the same period in 2015.
Arcuri attributes the success of the iPhone 7 Plus to the consumer demand for a new product that touts novel features that are viewed as cool.
"The iPhone base wants a new, cooler iPhone," said Arcuri.
He added that unfortunately, the iPhone does not deliver on these counts, which is why consumers have turned to the bigger iPhone 7 Plus.
