Apple iPhone 6 plus outselling smaller model, says survey

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More buyers are picking Apple Inc's iPhone 6 Plus over the iPhone 6 in this debut weekend, according to a Piper Jaffray Cos survey, and supplies of the larger model already are selling out in some US stores.

The iPhone 6 Plus is "more popular," Gene Munster, an analyst for Piper Jaffray in Minneapolis, said in a report today. The survey of 386 Apple customers waiting in line in Minneapolis and New York yesterday found that 57 percent intended to buy the iPhone 6 Plus, he said. Munster said he had expected buyers to split 50-50 between the models this weekend and shift more in favour of the smaller phone over time.

More buyers also said they would pay for higher storage capacity for either phone than for the iPhone 5S last year. The survey showed 22 per cent choosing 16 gigabytes, 52 per cent picking 64 GB and 26 per cent opting for 128 GB. Last year, 35 per cent planned to buy 16 GB, 39 per cent intended to get 32 GB and 25 per cent wanted 64 GB, Munster said.

The shift to higher storage capacity and larger phones "will provide an incremental benefit to gross margins," Munster said. That should help revenue outpace analysts' average estimate by 9 percent and earnings estimates by almost 12 percent in the three months through December, he said.