Why So Many Apple Fans Choose ‘S’ Model iPhones

Many Apple fans skip the company’s major releases and instead opt for the upgraded version that debuts a year after with an “S” after the model’s number. Apple has used the “S” designator since releasing the iPhone 4s in 2011. S models are an upgraded version of the previous year’s iPhone and typically feature internal updates to the camera, processor, or battery without the dramatic upgrades of a newly numbered version.

And while Apple’s new major releases, designated by a number unaccompanied by a letter, are undeniably popular, the S models that come in the years between major releases are also home runs for the company, which The Verge reported in April has sold more than 700 million iPhones since 2007.

                                                             Source: Apple.com

While each of Apple’s iPhones seems to sell more than its last, the figures from Apple’s launch weekends — the only sales period in which Apple officially releases data on how well particular iPhone models are selling — reveal a much more significant jump in sales with each S model over the previous year’s release versus the jump from an S model to the next year’s major release, as illustrated by the infographic below.

Apple sold more than 1.7 million units of the iPhone 4 in the opening weekend following its launch, but more than 4 million iPhone 4s units in the phone’s debut weekend. It saw another significant jump with 5-series iPhones, selling  5 million iPhone 5 units during its opening weekend but more than 9 million iPhone 5s and 5c units in the models’ first weekend. Apple sold more than 10 million iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus units in the weekend of the phones’ debut, and many industry watchers have high hopes for the sales of the iPhone 6s that Apple is expected to debut this fall.

BGR’s Yoni Heisler reported recently that the iPhone 5s is the most popular iPhone in use today, with approximately 125 million users, as estimated by Apple analyst Neil Cybart at Above Avalon. Cybart started with Tim Cook’s comment that 20% of the active iPhone installed user base had upgraded to the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Apple sold 61 million iPhones in the last quarter, and Cybart points to 80% of total iPhone sales as a reasonable estimate of the proportion of newest iPhone model or models on the market. So Cybart estimates that 48 million units of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus were sold between January and March, and puts the iPhone installed base at approximately 475 million users. “With this estimate in hand,” Cybart writes, “we can start to break out the iPhone base by model.” He explains:

iPhone 6 has been outselling 6 Plus by approximately 2.5x, while both have been outselling the iPhone 5s and 5c by nearly 4-to-1. Taking into account these ratios, I suspect the current iPhone user base breakout looks something like:

iPhone 6: 85 million users
iPhone 6 Plus: 35 million users
Older (5s, 5c, 5, 4s): 355 million users

The 355 million strong user base of the iPhone 5s and older models represents “the key number” for determining the market of iPhone owners who are likely looking to upgrade to a new iPhone in the fall. But Cybart’s estimates get even more specific when it comes to the breakdown of the user base that might look to upgrade to the expected iPhone 6s this fall. Using data from Fiksu, Cybart estimates that the current iPhone user base breaks down in the following manner:

                                 iPhone 6: 85 million users
                                 iPhone 6 Plus: 35 million users
                                 iPhone 5s: 125 million users
                                 iPhone 5c: 50 million users
                                 iPhone 5: 80 million users
                                 iPhone 4s: 60 million users
                                 iPhone 4 and earlier: 40 million users
                                 Total: 475 million users

Heisler reports that because iOS as a platform is “stickier” than Android — meaning that iPhone owners are more likely to stick with their current platform than Android users are — many owners of the iPhone 5s and older models will likely consider upgrading to the iPhone 6s when they’re eligible for an upgrade. The iPhone 6s is rumored to incorporate Force Touch, which Apple debuted with the Apple Watch and has since brought to the MacBook. It’s also been reported that the next-generation iPhone will feature a 12-megapixel camera, improved build quality, a thinner form, 2GB of RAM, an A9 processor, and improved TouchID functionality.

iPhone S models are a solid choice for many Apple fans, some of whom are quick to point out that game-changing features like Siri were introduced in iOS releases that coincided with the debut of S models of the iPhone (the iPhone 4s in Siri’s case). Perhaps the biggest drawback of purchasing an S model is that you’re waiting an extra year to get the upgrades introduced with the previous year’s major release — but the phone that you ultimately get is better than the initial release, which for many fans make the S model worth the wait.