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Comment by bspn | Hacker News Reader

> ASP increased to $800 dollars (!) which would point to the iPhone X doing relatively well, despite not being available for the entire quarter.

I'm not sure that is necessarily true. The iPhone 8 pricing ranges from $699 to $849, the 8 Plus from $799 to $949 and the X from $999 to $1149. A higher ASP doesn't necessarily indicate that the X has performed well, as it's possible the higher priced 8s have contributed to the overall increase.

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For 4Q16:

  - iPhone 7 - $650-850
  - iPhone 7 Plus - $769-969

Yielded an ASP of $695

4Q2017:

  - iPhone X - $1000-1150
  - iPhone 8 - $650-850
  - iPhone 8 Plus -$800 -950

Yielded an ASP of $796

That is a year-over-year increase of 14.5%, with the only real change being the iPhone X. I agree that some movement of the ASP could be attributed to Apple only offering 2 storage sizes for the iPhone 8s, but really, the price ranges are very similar if the iPhone X is excluded. It could easily be argued that, because Apple also offered their cheapest iPhone ever in 2018, there would be more pressure for ASP to be decreasing [0].

[0] - http://www.asymco.com/2017/09/20/good-better-best/

iPhone 8 starts at $700 not $650

Even if the X isn't selling, the fact that a $1000+ iPhone is available will make it seem more reasonable to purchase one that costs $800+ instead of just the base model. Regardless of whether or not X sales have met expectations, I think the X is probably the biggest factor in the ASP increase aside from bumping the cost of the base model from $649 to $699.

Agreed. Similar reason why Starbucks has a Venti size and no longer lists their Short size on the menu – so that it makes it more reasonable (from a consumer standpoint) to purchase the medium-range option (Grande), thus pushing up the average price point.

Not saying that iPhones are priced the same way as lattes, but that's a known pricing consideration.

>A higher ASP doesn't necessarily indicate that the X has performed well, as it's possible the higher priced 8s have contributed to the overall increase.

The iPhone X was the most popular iPhone every week it was available according to Tim Cook. From the conference call transcript: https://seekingalpha.com/article/4142447-apples-aapl-ceo-tim...

"And so it was a stellar quarter for iPhone. The iPhone X was the most popular and that’s particularly noteworthy given that we didn’t start shipping until early November, and we’re constrained for a while. The team did a great job of getting into supply demand balance there in December. But since the launch of iPhone X, it has been the most popular iPhone every week, every week sales. And that is even through today, actually through January."

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