Apple’s iPhone 7 line is increasingly becoming the smartphone of choice for that company’s customers, according to a new study.
The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus accounted for 81% of all U.S. IPhone sales during the three-month period ending July 1, Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) said on Tuesday. Individually, the iPhone 7 accounted for 47% of total Apple smartphone sales while the iPhone 7 Plus accounted for 34%.
Apple (AAPL) released the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus in September. The devices offered minor design and performance upgrades over the previous year’s iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus. However, they’ve been generally well-received among reviewers and users, and have been a boon to Apple’s already strong smartphone division.
According to the CIRP data, the iPhone 7 line has done a better job at this point than the iPhone 6s line of attracting customers away from older Apple smartphones. During the same quarter in 2016, for instance, 34% of iPhones sold were older models. In this latest quarter, just 19% of iPhone sales were legacy versions, according to CIRP.
The estimates do not include unit sales.
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Still, most iPhone buyers during the quarter previously owned Apple handsets. According to CIRP’s data, 34% of iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus buyers last quarter upgraded from iPhone SE, 5S, or later. Nearly a third upgraded from the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Just 20% of iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus buyers previously owned Android phones.
However, CIRP partner and co-founder Josh Lowitz noted that during the past three quarters, between 14% and 17% of iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus buyers were formerly Android owners.
“With lengthening upgrade cycles and a growing percentage of owners with the most recently released models, continued platform switching will be important to the success of the next iPhones,” Lowitz said in a statement.
