The real reason why ‘budget’ iPhone XR outsold all others in 2019

• The iPhone XR — Apple’s ‘budget’ iPhone — has been the best-selling smartphone globally every quarter since Q4 2018.
• Last quarter, iPhone XR was behind a quarter of Apple total sales according to Counterpoint Research.
• ‘Affordable flagship’ phones will continue to gain momentum in 2020.

iPhones are one of Apple’s most successful products. The iPhone XR — Apple’s ‘budget’ iPhone — is more popular than the others. It has been the top-selling smartphone globally every quarter this year, according to Counterpoint Research’s Market Pulse.

The iPhone XR, exclusively, was responsible was one-quarter of Apple’s overall smartphone sales during Q3 2019, dominating in China and other global markets aside from the US, its home turf.

It also trounced over its competition — which includes the Samsung Galaxy A10 and Oppo A9.


Here’s what Apple got right

Rather stick to its rigid pricing, Apple adjusted the price according to different regions when it came to the iPhone XR. It helped amp up demand for the product according to Counterpoint Research.

The combination of lowering the price and modifying it for different markets allowed Apple to lure in customers looking to buy an ‘affordable flagship’ phone — a trend that’s on the rise.

The iPhone XR even beat out its successor, the iPhone 11 — Apple’s latest smartphone launched in September 2019 alongside the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max — even though the iPhone 11 cracked the top 10 best-selling smartphones as soon as it launched.


Reviewers feel that this is because even though the iPhone 11 is an improvement over the iPhone XR, the changes are incremental. Aside from an extra camera sensor and slightly more powerful processor — the A13 over the A12 — there isn’t much of a difference. Certainly not enough to justify the $100 price difference.

Look for more ‘affordable flagships’ in 2020

Premium segment features, usually restricted to high-end phones, are now trickling down the mid-segment. Not just Apple, but Samsung and Oppo are following the example popularised by OnePlus of offering ‘affordable flagships’ — mid-tier phones with top-tier specifications.

However, OnePlus did not feature in this quarter’s top 10 best-selling smartphones list despite the October launch of the OnePlus 7T Pro.

Counterpoint predicts that even though 5G deployment in 2020 will mean that brands will start pushing out 5G variants of the top 10 most popular phones — ‘affordable flagships’ will continue to gain momentum.

See also:

Why you should buy the $600 iPhone XR instead of the $700 iPhone 11

My iPhone XR has made life miserable, and it shows a major change Apple needs to make in the post-Jony Ive era