Half of Apple's iPhone 5c sales are to Android switchers - report
The mid-range iPhone 5c has proven much more popular than its flagship sibling among smartphone shoppers with below-median incomes, and has attracted large numbers of first-time Apple buyers who are largely switching from Android devices, new data indicates.
More than 40 percent of iPhone 5c buyers earned less than $49,000 per year, while just over 20 percent of iPhone 5s owners fell into the same economic group, according to a new report from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. The study tracked smartphone sales throughout the U.S., Europe, and Asia during August, September, and October 2013.
The age of customers buying iPhone 5c units also skewed slightly older than those purchasing the iPhone 5s, at 38 and 34 years old, respectively.
"The good news for Apple is that this wider appeal is attracting significant switching from competitors," said Kantar's strategic insight director, Dominic Sunnebo, in a statement.
"Almost half" of those buying Apple's polycarbonate handset were switching from Android-based competitors, especially Korean giants Samsung and LG. By comparison, 80 percent of purchases of the high-end iPhone 5s went to customers upgrading from previous iterations of the iPhone.
The data also suggests that the latest revisions to the iPhone lineup have not had the same uplifting effect on Apple's market share that their predecessor, the iPhone 5, had, though Sunnebo attributes this lag to the devices' position on the latter part of Apple's tick-tock product cycle for the iPhone. Buyers "tend to react more positively to 'full' releases than incremental improvements such as the 5S and 5C," he says.
Kantar's data showed iOS accounting for 16 percent of smartphone sales in Europe, 61 percent in Japan, 35 percent in Australia, 16 percent in China, and 41 percent in the U.S. during the period of the study.
More than 40 percent of iPhone 5c buyers earned less than $49,000 per year, while just over 20 percent of iPhone 5s owners fell into the same economic group, according to a new report from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. The study tracked smartphone sales throughout the U.S., Europe, and Asia during August, September, and October 2013.
The age of customers buying iPhone 5c units also skewed slightly older than those purchasing the iPhone 5s, at 38 and 34 years old, respectively.
"The good news for Apple is that this wider appeal is attracting significant switching from competitors," said Kantar's strategic insight director, Dominic Sunnebo, in a statement.
"Almost half" of those buying Apple's polycarbonate handset were switching from Android-based competitors, especially Korean giants Samsung and LG. By comparison, 80 percent of purchases of the high-end iPhone 5s went to customers upgrading from previous iterations of the iPhone.
The data also suggests that the latest revisions to the iPhone lineup have not had the same uplifting effect on Apple's market share that their predecessor, the iPhone 5, had, though Sunnebo attributes this lag to the devices' position on the latter part of Apple's tick-tock product cycle for the iPhone. Buyers "tend to react more positively to 'full' releases than incremental improvements such as the 5S and 5C," he says.
Kantar's data showed iOS accounting for 16 percent of smartphone sales in Europe, 61 percent in Japan, 35 percent in Australia, 16 percent in China, and 41 percent in the U.S. during the period of the study.
Comments
No wonder Samsung is holding worldwide "crisis awareness" meetings. The numbers that were coming in at HQ must have been that grim.
I think this sounds reasonable. Most Android users have never cared about the latest tech or fastest devices, or at least weren't willing to pay for it which makes an Android switcher likely to give the vibrant 5C's a whirl if they aren't convinced the extra $100 for a given capacity is worth the extra features and performance.
Absolutely.
To touch base on performance- I can't tell the difference in speed between my iPad 4 and iPad air, nor could I between my iPhone 5 and 5s. They feel exactly the same. I know benchmarks show differently- but in real-world usage (iPhoto/iMovie and Infinity Blade 3 are my most complicated apps)- The difference is nominal, if anything. This should bode well for those buying the 5c- as their performance will still be great- making their user experience enjoyable.
I pitted my iPhone 5 against a 5S and I saw very little difference in apps opening (note: didn't try large apps like Pages or Infinity Blade). I did notice that the 5S will turns on faster, which isn't a deciding factor for a device that would rarely ever be restarted. The one area that I saw a huge comparative gain in performance is apps closing down but I chock that up to what Mike Ash said about the new Aarch-64 ISA.
In short, the improvements to Apple's runtime make it so that object allocation in 64-bit mode costs only 40-50% of what it does in 32-bit mode. If your app creates and destroys a lot of objects, that's a big deal.
I also moved from the Pad 3 to a Retina iPad Mini and the iPad Mini feels so much faster than the iPad 3.
edit: Typo: chock not choke.
Also i don't know how it turn out in the USA but here in France the iPhone 5C is much more subsidized by providers than the 5S.
For the 5S you barely make any gain at all if you go subsidized while 5C is almost free with 24 months smart-phones plans.
All implications of the coexisting products lines 5S & 5C haven't been reached yet I think.
Armchair quarterback's call lol:
Samsung can't really grow its share. Blackberry is exhausted. Apple is growing not shrinking. No other Android maker has significant share Samsung can steal away.
Apple will continue growing at Samsung's expense.
That's what happens when you make it to the top of the hill?
Even with Apple's massive popularity and profitability, there are so many product areas they have not yet touched that their future remains bright. Samsung on the other hand, is clearly beginning to flameout.
Hopefully as the legal weight gets heavier and they cannot make identical copies their market advantage over other Android junk will fade. Like HTC they will hopefully fall back into the morass of Android boxes fighting over the low end of the market.
Recently, I've been seeing a shitload of people with 5Cs. The speculation, or foregone conclusion, that the phone has "bombed" is hilarious.
Waiting for the 5s 64GB to be in stock so I upgrade my 4s.
How are they arriving at this data? Did they survey people who bought a 5C? How else would they know age and income stats?
Until the methodology, time of survey and sample size are revealed I have no faith in any marketing surveys from third parties.
Half of all statistics are made up on the spot.
Or the number of trolls that continue to pollute AI.
Shut up and go away.
Unfortunately, this article doesn't take into account how many iPhone owners are abandoning Apple in favor of Android devices. After the colossal, embarrassing failure that is iOS7, I'm willing to bet the numbers are far greater AGAINST Apple than FOR it.
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