CIRP has released its analysis of iPhone sales for the September 2024 quarter, revealing that the US-Weighted Average Retail Price (US-WARP) for iPhones has reached an all-time high of $1,018. This is a huge increase from $971 in the previous quarter and $918 in the same quarter last year.
But first, what’s US-WARP? It is a metric that helps to understand the average price of iPhones sold in the United States.
Imagine you’re looking at all the iPhones sold in the US over a three-month period. Some are cheaper models; some are more expensive. US-WARP considers how many of each model were sold and at what price, then calculates an average.
It’s like adding up the prices of all iPhones sold and dividing by the number of iPhones sold. But there’s more. It gives more weight to models that sell more. So, if lots of people buy the expensive Pro models, it pulls the average up. If more people buy cheaper models, the average will be pulled down.
It’s called “weighted” because it doesn’t treat all models equally – it considers how popular each model is.
In the September quarter, 47% of iPhones sold were Pro and Pro Max models, up from 38% last year, according to CIRP data. This trend towards premium expensive models has been the main reason for increasing the US-WARP.
US-WARP focuses solely on US retail prices without accounting for wholesale discounts.
The report notes that the availability of both iPhone 15 and 16 Pro and Pro Max models during parts of the quarter likely contributed to the increased average price. Additionally, storage upgrades play a role in increasing the average price.
More here.