Apple CEO Tim Cook called His company’s recent surge in iPhone sales was “simply stunning” on Thursday. What is behind the successful debut of the iPhone 17 family? Analysts have a few theories.
The company beat Wall Street expectations in the most recent quarter, posting $143.76 billion in total revenue for the period that included a 23% year-over-year increase in sales of its signature smartphone. “It was a fantastic quarter for iPhone with record revenue of $85.3 billion,” Cook said on the call. “This is the most comprehensive iPhone lineup we’ve ever had and, by far, the most popular. Throughout the quarter, customer enthusiasm for iPhone has been nothing short of extraordinary.”
Apple’s strong results don’t necessarily mean customers are done holding on to their old smartphones for years, a trend enabled by technology increased sustainability. Nearly half of iPhone users in the United States now keep their smartphones for three years or more, a study suggests. September report by CIRP, which tracks data on iPhone buyers through customer surveys. That figure was 24% just five years ago, notes analyst Josh Lowitz, partner and co-founder of Consumer Intelligence Research Partners.
Rather, the increase in iPhone revenue in late 2025 likely comes from factors like Apple’s updated pricing strategies and lagging demand from the many customers who Latest iPhones purchased during the Covid-19 pandemicLowitz said.
“Sales were very strong during the pandemic because people weren’t spending on restaurants and travel, and there was a lot of money floating around. Today, pandemic phone buyers have phones that are more than 4 years old,” says Lowitz. These people simply needed upgrades, which helped drive the increased demand, he says.
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Wedbush analyst Dan Ives agrees: “The iPhone 17 was almost a surprise sleeper upgrade cycle,” in part because of “pent-up demand” from about 315 million iPhone users worldwide who hadn’t upgraded their smartphones in more than four years, according to Wedbush estimates.
As for Apple’s pricing strategies, Lowitz notes that Apple has streamlined its offerings by discontinuing models older than the iPhone 16 line. Buyers often like to buy the middle choice when presented with multiple options, and by limiting the options, Apple has functionally transformed the standard iPhone 17 into this middle option, Lowitz says.
From there, the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max weren’t expensive enough — compared to the standard iPhone 17, anyway — to deter customers from splurging, Lowitz says. Apple’s latest high-end Pro and Pro Max smartphones accounted for 52% of U.S. iPhone sales last quarter, according to CIRP estimate.
Additionally, the phones themselves have been largely positively reviewed and well-received by consumers as high-quality pieces of technology, Lowitz says.
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Improved phone quality could be a double-edged sword for Apple’s future sales, Lowitz believes. In particular, if new iPhone features only gradually improve in the coming years, customers are unlikely to repeat the recent surge in iPhone sales anytime soon, he suggests.
But if Apple manages to create entirely new or significantly improved iPhone features, including artificial intelligence software or a Foldable iPhone it would be under development – then the company could repeat its success in the immediate future, Ives says.
“For Apple, it’s increasingly difficult to deliver a hardware upgrade cycle that customers will be excited about,” Ives says. “It all comes down to AI, so customers have kind of been in this waiting game.”
During Thursday’s call, Cook touted a planned partnership with Google about enhanced AI features for Apple’s Siri virtual assistant, which he says will be introduced later this year. Apple also announced the acquisition of Q.aian Israeli AI startup.
Ives’ prediction: Apple customers will continue to spend, at least in the short term. “I think all of this is going to play into an upgrade cycle that I think is going to continue for Apple over the next 12 to 18 months,” he says.
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