The iPhone 7 was well received by critics and, by most accounts, smartphone buyers in general, but it might not have been good enough to convince customers to opt for Apple’s newest smartphone. At least that’s the thinking of some Wall Street analysts who believe that the iPhone 6 and 6s may have dragged the average selling price of Apple smartphones down during the holiday quarter in 2016, and could hurt Apple’s overall results for the quarter.
As Bloomberg reports, industry analyst Mark Moskowitz warned investors this week that the iPhone 7 might not be impressive enough for buyers to opt for it over the older iPhone models. “Recent smartphone customers increasingly are opting for the iPhone 6s,” Moskowitz wrote. “We detect increasing concern among industry participants that smartphones in general have evolved technologically to become more than good enough to serve most users’ digital needs over multiple years or until the device breaks.”
If the iPhone 7’s new features — like the fancy camera and first-ever water resistance rating on an iPhone — weren’t enough to convince buyers that it was significantly better than the year-old iPhone 6s or even the older iPhone 6, analysts believe it could show one of two things: Either the iPhone 7 just wasn’t impressive enough, or buyers are fine waiting for the long-rumored iPhone 8 (or whatever it ends up being called) which could feature a complete redesign.
The iPhone 7 was criticized heavily after its reveal for being essentially identical in design to the iPhone 6 and 6s lines, marking the first time in the iPhone’s history that an “s” year wasn’t immediately followed by a new body style. When Apple reports its quarterly results on January 31, we’ll find out if that strategy paid off or not.
