Apple is expected to break its average iPhone price record twice in the coming months as customers choose to buy costlier “Pro” models that boost the tech giant’s margins.
Demand for the new iPhone 14 unveiled earlier this month is already robust enough to project that the global “average selling price” — or ASP — will rise to a record $892 in the September quarter and $944 in the December quarter, according to Counterpoint Research, a data provider, which bases its projections on consumer demand, market intelligence, and talks with suppliers.
The current record is $873, achieved in the fourth quarter of last year.
The average selling price of iPhones is a key Apple metric for Wall Street, as smartphone sales still account for roughly 50 percent of the group’s revenues. The upward trajectory of these prices — from just $690 in late 2015 — is all the more significant given that Apple opted not to increase the prices of its devices earlier this month at its flagship annual product release, a decision some analysts called the event’s biggest surprise.
Driving the trend is the popularity of iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max models, which feature a faster chip, a 48-megapixel camera and a new information hub called “Dynamic Island”.
When research group Evercore ISI surveyed some 4,000 consumers this month it found that 56 percent of those likely to buy an iPhone planned to buy a Pro model, versus 41 percent last year. It is anticipated that ASPs in the next year would be around $940, about 10 percent higher than in the iPhone 13 cycle.
