Survey: One in five may be poised to make jump to 'iPhone 7'
If it comes to pass, a potential 20.7 percent shift to Apple's "iPhone 7" would roughly match the migration to the iPhone 6 after six months of release, according to a new online poll.
A Quartz poll of 525 iPhone users suggests that upgrade levels could be similar even if Apple doesn't redesign the exterior casing of the new iPhone. 20.7 percent of respondents said that they were likely -- in varying degrees -- to move to the iPhone 7, regardless of exterior design.
However, 70 percent of the respondents suggested they might change their personal upgrade patterns to match Apple if it switches to a three-year redesign cycle, as has has been rumored. Apple and carriers cite two years as the current normal for upgrades.
Quartz's survey group included people with demographics similar to that of the U.S., but how well the it might match Apple's specific user demographic isn't clear. Not included in the survey were responses from people whose phones were in too poor a material condition to continue significantly past a potential September or October release timeframe.
Compounding potential aggravation with the lack of a major redesign in the iPhone 7 is the likely removal of the industry-standard 3.5mm headphone jack. Another common complaint about leaked designs includes the enlarged camera protrusion.
In April 2015, Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed that the iPhone 6 series had already sold 61 million units, which led to a record $13.6 billion in profits for the quarter. In response to a question after the earnings report, Cook noted that even with upgrades hitting 20 percent, there was "room to grow" for the next iteration of the phone, which turned out to be the iPhone 6s family. Overall market conditions and currency exchange considerations have softened the market since then.
In May, the UBS evidence lab conducted an international poll to gauge interest in an iPhone 7 with 6,336 smartphone users. In that poll, interest in the iPhone 7 -- sight unseen -- exceeded that of the iPhone 6s prior to launch, with nearly half of respondents found to be holding off on buying a new iPhone until the next model was available. Interest in the iPhone 7 was found to be less than that of the iPhone 6 prior to its launch.
A Quartz poll of 525 iPhone users suggests that upgrade levels could be similar even if Apple doesn't redesign the exterior casing of the new iPhone. 20.7 percent of respondents said that they were likely -- in varying degrees -- to move to the iPhone 7, regardless of exterior design.
However, 70 percent of the respondents suggested they might change their personal upgrade patterns to match Apple if it switches to a three-year redesign cycle, as has has been rumored. Apple and carriers cite two years as the current normal for upgrades.
Quartz's survey group included people with demographics similar to that of the U.S., but how well the it might match Apple's specific user demographic isn't clear. Not included in the survey were responses from people whose phones were in too poor a material condition to continue significantly past a potential September or October release timeframe.
Compounding potential aggravation with the lack of a major redesign in the iPhone 7 is the likely removal of the industry-standard 3.5mm headphone jack. Another common complaint about leaked designs includes the enlarged camera protrusion.
In April 2015, Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed that the iPhone 6 series had already sold 61 million units, which led to a record $13.6 billion in profits for the quarter. In response to a question after the earnings report, Cook noted that even with upgrades hitting 20 percent, there was "room to grow" for the next iteration of the phone, which turned out to be the iPhone 6s family. Overall market conditions and currency exchange considerations have softened the market since then.
In May, the UBS evidence lab conducted an international poll to gauge interest in an iPhone 7 with 6,336 smartphone users. In that poll, interest in the iPhone 7 -- sight unseen -- exceeded that of the iPhone 6s prior to launch, with nearly half of respondents found to be holding off on buying a new iPhone until the next model was available. Interest in the iPhone 7 was found to be less than that of the iPhone 6 prior to its launch.
Comments
WTF guys? Can you seriously not see that the poll question is incredibly disingenuous and designed to mislead and create a specific result?
"If the iPhone isn't redesigned"...guess what, the iPhone 7 is a new design.
"Will you switch to every 3 years if Apple does"...that's not what Apple is doing.
Can somebody please fucking explain to me how the tech blog universe managed to shove its collective head up its ass in support of this narrative? Why does the iPhone 7 have to look dramatically different, instead of just mostly different, to qualify as "New"?
This poll is literally trying to say that the iPhone 7 will not be new, and you're supporting that bullshit.
If that doesn't impress you, that's your problem. It's no excuse to start toting out the comments about their industrial design and industry leading status.
That would be a more accurate headline.
Yeah, some serious loading of the questions there. How about asking "If Apple were to cover the iPhone 7 in razor wire and broken glass, would you consider buying it?" and "If Apple decided to only ship fish heads every third year instead of phones, would you move to a 3 year cycle?"
The fact is we don't know what Apple are going to ship yet. We've only seen some dodgy pictures and video which may or may not be real. Plus we have no real information on the internals beyond "A10 processor" - an assumption based purely on numerical progression. Even whether the 3.5mm jack is going to be removed doesn't come with any clear information on how the Lightning or Bluetooth headphones will be configured or what they will look like (apart from, again, a rather dodgy photo).
This, this and more this. Yeah, the iPhone looks cool, but that's not why I buy them. Especially since mine goes in a case as soon as I find one I like.
The iPhone is still a rectangle with a glass screen and a home button. Hard to argue that the obsession with their design evolution is anything but trite and obnoxious.
Besides, the gen 6 design is not what you'd call "the best possible design" that's exempt from change or criticism, certainly not in the way the gen 4 was perceived. You seem automatically inclined that any change to a new direction would result into something worse. Funny because those recent casing leaks you seem to be OK with truly are SOMETHING WORSE.