It's no longer a big secret that the iPhone 16 family has proven less popular around the world in its first few months of commercial availability than Apple (and many industry analysts) expected prior to the September 2024 launch, but just in case that wasn't problematic enough for the Cupertino-based tech giant, a new CIRP (Consumer Intelligence Research Partners) report brings to light another sign of financial trouble.
While Apple is obviously not going to file for bankruptcy anytime soon, its plump profit margins are apparently being threatened by a somewhat unexpected new phenomenon - a shrinking number of premium iPhone buyers opting for non-entry-level storage variants.
128GB is more than enough for most users
To be perfectly clear, I'm not the one saying that (although, coincidentally, that's always been my view as well). Interestingly, 58 percent of iPhone 16 and 16 Plus buyers in the December 2024 quarter chose to "settle" for 128 gigs of internal storage space rather than upgrading (at a premium) to 256 or 512GB, with this number representing a significant (and worrying) jump from the 52 percent of early iPhone 15 and 15 Plus adopters who made the same choice in the final three months of 2023.
Only 42 percent of iPhone 16 and 16 Plus buyers between October and December 2024 apparently opted for more than 128GB storage.
That's still a majority of "settlers", but it's a larger majority now, and the same goes for the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max in contrast to the 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max. Of course, the 16 Pro Max starts at 256 instead of 128GB storage, so it's easy to understand why that bad boy's buyers are more inclined to save some money and snub the handset's extravagant 512GB and 1TB options.
Then again, the most affordable iPhone 15 Pro Max model released in the fall of 2023 also packed 256 gigs of local digital hoarding room, which didn't stop a larger number of its buyers (as well as those of the iPhone 15 Pro) to go with a higher storage tier than on the 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max.
What's truly odd about this new research is that the completely opposite trend is being noticed as far as "legacy" iPhones are concerned. For some reason, iPhone 14, 15, and SE 3 buyers are more inclined to pick costlier variants of those devices than both iPhone 16 series users and iPhone SE, 13, and 14 buyers back at the end of 2023.
Obviously, storage upgrades for such "legacy" models are much easier to swallow than the same choices for premium devices, but Apple should still be worried about the iPhone 16 family sales breakdown and try to find ways not to repeat this situation with the iPhone 17 roster at the end of 2025.
How about making storage upgrades cheaper?
Now there's a crazy concept Apple is unlikely to implement unless those upgrading rates drop way lower than 42 and 44 percent. That's just not how the company operates, but hey, we can dream.
The iPhone 16 Pro Max, for instance, costs $1,199 with 256GB storage, $1,399 in a 512 gig configuration, and a whopping $1,599 with a whopping terabyte of space, so you can probably understand why many people might not be quick to pay $400 more for the latter model than the former.
The most popular iPhone 16 Pro Max variant comes with 256GB internal storage space. | Image Credit -- PhoneArena
But what if you could buy, say, a 512GB iPhone 17 Pro Max for $1,299 eight or nine months from now? That wouldn't cut into Apple's profit margins too much, and it could make it a lot easier for some folks to opt for the pricier variant. The same would probably be true for a 512GB iPhone 17 Pro reduced from its predecessor's $1,299 retail price to $1,199 or even $1,249, but once again, this is something I don't realistically expect to happen.
Of course, Apple has surprised us all (analysts included) a few different times in recent years, maintaining the iPhone 16 Pro Max's starting price at the same level as the 15 Pro Max, for instance, so maybe, just maybe the company will make the sensible choice in terms of storage upgrades for the iPhone 17 family as well.
Create a free account and join our vibrant community
Register to enjoy the full PhoneArena experience. Here’s what you get with your PhoneArena account:
Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.
Recommended Stories
Loading Comments...
COMMENT
All comments need to comply with our
Community Guidelines
Phonearena comments rules
A discussion is a place, where people can voice their opinion, no matter if it
is positive, neutral or negative. However, when posting, one must stay true to the topic, and not just share some
random thoughts, which are not directly related to the matter.
Things that are NOT allowed:
Off-topic talk - you must stick to the subject of discussion
Offensive, hate speech - if you want to say something, say it politely
Spam/Advertisements - these posts are deleted
Multiple accounts - one person can have only one account
Impersonations and offensive nicknames - these accounts get banned
Moderation is done by humans. We try to be as objective as possible and moderate with zero bias. If you think a
post should be moderated - please, report it.
Have a question about the rules or why you have been moderated/limited/banned? Please,
contact us.
FCC OKs Cingular\'s purchase of AT&T Wireless
Things that are NOT allowed: