Apple iPhone 6 Preference Shown In New Sales Data

Market researching company Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) released the results of a buyers’ survey on Apple iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus adoption rates, which they have been cataloging since the launch of the new generation models on September 19, 2014.

The data shows that the majority of iPhone transactions came from current iPhone owners — which made up over 80 percent of the current generation buyers. While comparing this year’s iPhone launch to the 2013 launch, the CIRP report shows that there were fewer people upgrading from basic mobile phones, BlackBerrys, and other types of mobile devices. The high adoption rates amongst current iPhone owners is still good news for Apple, which has cultivated brand loyalty amongst these new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus owners. Former Android users also made up a large chunk of those buyers, however, their representation was slightly lower at this launch than after last year’s iPhone launch.

“After the most recent launch, 12 percent of iPhone buyers reported having an Android phone, compared to 23 percent after the September 2013 launch,” explains the CIRP report.

CIRP zooms in on the buying trends on those former Android users who decided to purchase an iPhone model at some point during the month proceeding the 2014 launch date. Amongst former Android owners, the iPhone 6 seems to win the popularity contest, grabbing 59 percent of buyers in this group, in comparison to the 26 percent of former Android owners who bought the iPhone 6 Plus. The report also shows a small demand for previous-generation iPhones in this consumer group — 9 percent purchased an iPhone 5S and 6 percent bought the 5C.

Mark Levin, the co-founder of CIRP, weighed in on the former Android users’ buying patterns, identifying “Android owners, many of whom already had experience with phones with larger screen phones, were drawn to the 5.5 inch iPhone 6 Plus.”

The Tech Trader Daily blog describes how the iPhone 6 is outselling the iPhone 6 Plus “three to one,” calling out notes from UBS analysts Peter Christiansen and Steven Milunovich. Since the new generation models account for 91 percent of all iPhones purchased within the first month of the launch, analysts have upped their predictions for Apple’s stock. The popularity of the iPhone 6 Plus over the iPhone 6 model amongst general buyers echoes the trends pointed out in the CIRP analyses of former Android owners.

“Milunovich and Christiansen raised their target price on Apple to $125 earlier this week, on strong demand in China and continued brand loyalty,” describes Tech Trader Daily.

Today, Apple stock closed at $114.18, continuing to break its own peak thresholds.