Survey says: pricier iPhone 14 Pro models are the overwhelming choice of consumers in this country
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We can't conclude that the consumers in China represent the whole world. But TF International's reliable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has disseminated some tweets based on offline surveys conducted in China that reveal a strong preference for the more expensive iPhone 14 Pro models. This is exactly what Apple was hoping for and this year, more than ever, it created a huge dividing line between the non-Pro and Pro models.
Kuo's tweets noted that according to the offline survey, 85% of pre-orders that will be placed in China for the iPhone 14 series will be for the two iPhone 14 Pro models. Maybe not as surprising as it seems at first blush, the 6.7-inch non-Pro iPhone 14 Plus received the lowest percentage of future pre-orders in the survey at 5%.
Ming-Chi Kuo reveals the results of an offline survey that shows pre-order preferences in China for the iPhone 14 series
On one hand, we are surprised that a cheaper version of Apple's largest-screened handset and the one that Apple says has the best battery life of any iPhone, would be the choice of only 5% surveyed. On the other hand, if you're going to buy the 6.7-inch model, you might as well fork over the additional cash for great features found only on the Pro units like the Dynamic Island, the 120Hz ProMotion display, the 4nm A16 Bionic SoC with nearly 16 billion transistors, the faster LPDDR5 RAM, and the 48MP camera sensor.
Kuo adds that "Pre-orders for Apple's high-end products have always been more popular in the early stage. This year's order allocation of Pro models is higher vs. previous years from this survey, reflecting Apple's product segmentation strategy change (only Pros receive major updates)." Kuo himself says that this is not a one-off thing. Apple plans on equipping the iPhone 15 non-Pro models with the A16 Bionic and its nearly 16 billion transistors, and powering the iPhone 15 Pro models with the 3nm A17 Bionic.
Using the 3nm process node, the A17 Bionic will be able to fit more transistors inside than any other previous Apple iPhone SoC. And that should make the A17 Bionic the most powerful and energy-efficient chipset to ever grace the inside of an iPhone.
Pre-order the iPhone 14 model of your dreams!
Apple really went out of its way this year to create a huge gap between the iPhone 14 non-Pro and the iPhone 14 Pro. The goal is to sell more of the pricey units so that even if the number of phones Apple ships is flat or down slightly, revenue might still rise. It's a brilliant strategy. Still, we must point out that this is just the result of a survey where no money is laid out. When it comes time to place real pre-orders and spend real money, that 85% figure might drop dramatically.
Pre-orders in many markets started today with the iPhone 14 line expected to start shipping on September 16th.
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