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Over 100 Million iPhones Now in Use in U.S., Nearly Two-Thirds Are iPhone 6 or Later

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More than an estimated 100 million iPhones are being used in the United States, according to new data shared by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners [PDF]. At the end of the September 2015 quarter, more than 101 million iPhones were in use, and two-thirds of those iPhones were newer iPhones that have been released in 2014 and 2015.

An estimated 58 million of the 101 million iPhones in use were the iPhone 6 or 6 Plus, while four million were iPhone 6s and 6s Plus models. The iPhone 6, 6s, 6 Plus, and 6s Plus are the four iPhones that have larger 4.7 and 5.5 inch screens, and the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 appears to be the most popular model. CIRP's data was gathered in September, shortly after the iPhone 6s launch. iPhone 6s and 6s Plus numbers are likely much higher now.

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"The analysis shows the continued strength of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, now one year old," said Mike Levin, Partner and Co-Founder of CIRP. "We estimate a combined 60 million of these flagship phones sold in the US from the September 2014 launch through September 30, 2015. For comparison, the iPhone 5S sold about 28 million in the same period in 2013-2014. With only a weekend of availability in the quarter, we estimate 4 million of the new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus sold in the US."
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CIRP's data suggests that while the larger-screened iPhones make up a large chunk of the iPhones in use in the United States, iPhone adoption is slowing as the U.S. market matures. For the past eight quarters, the iPhone installed base grew an estimated average of eight percent, but the installed base grew four percent in the September 2015 quarter and six percent in the September 2014 quarter. Growth numbers were as high as 17 percent in the December 2013 quarter following the launch of the iPhone 5s and 5c.

As the U.S. market becomes saturated with smartphone owners, Apple has increasingly focused its attention on luring customers from Android and other competing platforms. Apple has introduced a new "Move to iOS" Android app, an Android-switching microsite, and a trade-in program for Android users looking to switch to an iPhone.

Apple's efforts have been successful, and in October, Apple CEO Tim Cook said Apple saw the highest rate of Android switchers it had ever measured in the fourth quarter of 2015. 30 percent of customers who were upgrading from an existing smartphone to an iPhone were former Android users.

CIRP's numbers are extrapolated from a September 2015 survey of 500 U.S. Apple customers who purchased an Apple product in the preceding quarter. CIRP analyzes data on iPhone buyers, their new model selection, and their prior phones and compares that to iPhone sales data adjusted to the U.S. market.

Article Link: Over 100 Million iPhones Now in Use in U.S., Nearly Two-Thirds Are iPhone 6 or Later
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2015/11/19/100-million-iphones-in-use-in-us/
navaira said:
Interesting to see 5C and 5S holding so strong.
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Those two phones came out September 2013... so those two-year contracts will be ending depending on when they were purchased.

A launch 5S or 5C could have already been upgraded by now... while a phone purchased in April 2014 will have to wait until April 2016.

And then there are some people who are holding on to the 4" form factor. :)
 
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hspace said:
I doubt the accuracy of this. I still see a lot of people with iPhone 4/4S around here in California.
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Agree. I see lots still. To test another way, how many iPhone 6s and 6s+ did Apple say it sold first weekend again? I seem to recall it was something like 10 million. The vast majority would have been to US customers, the biggest market.
 
hspace said:
I doubt the accuracy of this. I still see a lot of people with iPhone 4/4S around here in California.
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Same here (eastern US). And the original iPhone 5 isn't rare either. I question how representative their sample is. EDIT: Or, as others have pointed out, "in use" may be an inaccurate term for the data they collected.

Plus, lots of older phones have been sold used—because they have resale value, which would only be true if they were actually sold again and used. (Spare part value would be limited—especially if it were true that those older phones aren't even being used anymore, and thus have no demand for being repaired.) Are almost ALL of these used devices ending up overseas?
 
MacSince1985 said:
I don't think this is an accurate representation of the users, as their analysis focuses on sales data, without taking into account older devices still in use.
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They are talking about iPhones in-use. And that definitely includes older devices.

Look at the chart... there's no way Apple sold 40 million iPhone 6 in September 2015 right before the 6S came out.

Instead... this chart shows the iPhones that are currently being used in the US... of which the year-old iPhone 6 and 6 Plus make up the most used.

If you're concerned about their data... I wouldn't worry about that.

They surveyed people and asked them which iPhone they purchased in the preceding quarter.

So it's safe to say that they're still using that phone 3-6-9 months later, etc.

If anything... there should actually be MORE iPhones in-use in the US since this data wouldn't show hand-me-down iPhones. The survey asked which phone you bought last quarter... but it didn't ask if you gave your old phone to a child to use, for instance.
 
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nagromme said:
Same here (eastern US). And the original iPhone 5 isn't rare either. I question how representative their sample is. EDIT: Or, as others have pointed out, "in use" may be an inaccurate term for the data they collected.

Plus, lots of older phones have been sold used—because they have resale value, which would only be true if they were actually sold again and used
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Yep. I suspect almost all the 4/4S out there are re-sales or hand-me-downs. Some might even be used as iPods without cellular service. But the point remains - there are lots of them out there still.
 
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jpgr15 said:
Honestly, I'm surprised the 5c is so significant.
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Go to any high school (or jr. high school), and you'll see that a *significant* portion of the kids have a 5C. It made perfect sense recently as a kids first iPhone - that's why my daughter has been using too.
 
SSD-GUY said:
Thank you Chinese Labour-force.
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Yes, thank you Chinese labor force. Thank you for doing a job that nobody else can do anywhere near as effectively. And in the meantime making more money than you would have ever made working on a farm in the Chinese countryside.

And you win the prize for the first snarky post in the thread that was totally irrelevant to the article.
 
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