Demand for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus has bee strong all over the world. Solid demand has created a gray market in the U.S., China and many other countries. During the company’s Q3 earnings call, Tim Cook warned investors that demand will continue to outstrip supply for the next several months even as its suppliers are working at their peak capacity.
Bendgate had no effect on iPhone 6 Plus sales
This supply shortage has pushed up the resale value of the iPhone 6 Plus. According to AppleInsider, used and resold units are selling at 124% of the brand new iPhone phablet on sites like eBay and Taobao. Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster has been tracking the resale price of the iPhone 6 Plus and its smaller sibling on these two platforms.
After 42 days of launch, Munster found that the iPhone 6 Plus still sold at 124% of its retail price. That’s slightly higher than 119% for the iPhone 5S in 42 days after its launch last year. Meanwhile, the resale price of 4.7-inch iPhone 6 was at 115% of its retail price in the first seven days. But it had declined to 94% after 42 days of launch. Falling resale value suggests that the Cupertino company has caught up with demand for the 4.7-inch model.
Piper Jaffray said the resale value proves that the so-called bendgate controversy had negligible impact on people looking to buy the iPhone 6 Plus. Another notable change was seen in the prices of the iPhone 5S and 5C. Following the debut of the iPhone 6, their prices have plunged more drastically than the iPhone 5 did last year. Munster said this level of decline was expected considering the improvements to the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are more substantial. As a result, the older model becomes less desirable.
Separately, a survey conducted by Kantar WorldPanel revealed that the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus have boosted the demand. Apple sold more than 39 million iPhones during the September quarter. However, the tech giant’s market share in the U.S. actually declined from 35.9% last year to 32.6% in September. Record iPhone sales couldn’t keep Apple from losing market share in its home market.
Apple shares fell 0.77% to $106.51 at 11:30 AM EDT on Thursday.
