Roger Fingas
A growing number of Americans are choosing to buy their iPhones from carrier outlets and websites, instead of directly from Apple's website and retail stores, recent research data indicates.
Between 2013 and 2015, the number of U.S. shoppers who bought through carriers rose from 65 percent to 76 percent, according to a Consumer Intelligence Research Partners report obtained by the Wall Street Journal. In the same timespan, Apple's share dropped from 16 percent to 11 percent.
The remaining 13 percent of 2015 iPhones were purchased through third-party retailers like Best Buy, Target, and Walmart.
Apple tends to make more profit selling through its own stores, where it can also exert more control over the shopping experience — this includes selling people on first-party accessories, AppleCare, and/or the iPhone Upgrade Program. Perhaps more importantly for the company, shoppers in an Apple Store have less chance to compare competing smartphones.
All four major U.S. carriers, however, are now favoring monthly leases and installment plans, which can offer strong incentive to buy through them instead of Apple. They have a wider geographic reach as well, with many more retail outlets.
Carriers are even reportedly gaining ground with their share of iPad sales, which jumped from 6 percent in 2013 to 18 percent last year. Apple's share held firm at 23 percent, meaning that the carriers grew at the expense of other retailers.
The largest share of U.S. Macs — 44 percent — were bought through Apple, with Best Buy coming a distant second at 20 percent.
Oliver Haslam
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
Sponsored Content
Malcolm Owen
Andrew Orr
29 Comments
I bought my last iPhone via an Apple store and I have to say the experience was a lot better than going into my carrier's store. The customer service was beyond excellent, I had to wait a little while even though I had made an appointment and had at least 3 employees come up and update me on status for my appointment while I was there. It wasn't a terribly long wait either. The buying experience was very smooth and there was no hard selling at all involved. I'll actually take the time again the next time I buy a phone to go through the Apple store just based on my experiences this time around.
I other news, Apple sells a ton of iPhones through partners as well as its own store and website.
Can't talk about the US market, but perhaps I can extrapolate. In the EU at least it makes more sense to opt for an iPhone with a subsidised carrier plan directly from the latter.
Where is Consumer Intelligence Research Partners getting this data from? Apple surely isn't providing them anything. How would they know what % is Apple stores vs. carriers?
My carrier has NEVER done anything for me except try to rob me blind while making doing business with them as hard and as costly as possible.
As soon as my current contract with them is up, I'll be upgrading via Apple's iPhone Upgrade Program. I'll NEVER buy a phone through a carrier again, even if it's a cheaper deal than Apple offers.
You have to earn my loyalty, and none of the carriers have ever done anything to try to do that; Apple has!