Mobile carriers sell more iPhones than Apple retail stores

Apple's online sales and retail stores combine to be the leading seller of iPads and Macs, but the company falls behind carriers in iPhone sales.

The latest report from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners examined data from Apple customers to get a sense of how Apple retail and online stores factor into purchases of the iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

For example, Apple's retail operations are the leading seller of iPads and Macs in the US but sell less than 40% in each case. In this study. CIRP has combined Apple retail stores and what it estimates are online store sales.

Mobile phone carriers are responsible for the most iPhone sales by a wide margin, accounting for at least two-thirds of sales in any given quarter.

Apple product sales numbers as of December 2022. Source: CIRP

The strong sales are likely likely due to cellular plan upgrade offers and other discounts, as well as installment plans. Some carriers will spread the cost of an iPhone further than Apple Card Monthly Installments.

Carriers have also seen a growth in iPad sales since they promote adding devices to existing mobile phone accounts.

However, Apple is still the leader in iPad sales at 29%, followed by Amazon at 23%. Apple is also the leading seller of Mac computers at 39%, with Best Buy not far behind in that category.

In the end, while Apple is a strong manufacturer, it still needs to rely on other companies to sell its products. For example, the company needs mobile carriers for iPhone sales and cellular service, and Amazon and Best Buy are also essential partners for Mac and iPad sales.

It's not clear how accurate the Apple-direct figures are. Apple hasn't reported sales volumes in years.

11 Comments

bloggerblog 16 Years · 2520 comments

About 1 year ago

Agreed, I bought my iPhone 14 Pro from an AT&T store because their upgrade plan sounded better than Apple's, for example they would drive to you to replace a broken screen. Also Apple didn't have the Pro in stock at any of their stores but AT&T was able to find me one.

person 11 Years · 34 comments

T-Mobile has better financing. And using the Apple Card for Apple purchases is a flippin joke. It counts towards your credit limit on your card and therefore affects your credit score.

Using T-Mobile it’s 0 percent interest and does not affect my credit limit.

Unless they majorly change that in a good way I’ll never use my Apple Card to purchase apple products again. Made that mistake purchasing Apple Watches.

neverindoubt 16 Years · 120 comments

Who does this surprise?

There's 273 Apple stores in the US.

There are 5,361 AT&T stores in the US.

You can Google yourself for the rest of the mobile company store numbers if that's your thing.

jimh2 8 Years · 670 comments

I do not believe there are any mobile phone companies who sell computers so that point is meaningless.

DAalseth 6 Years · 3067 comments

neverindoubt said:

Who does this surprise?

There's 273 Apple stores in the US.

There are 5,361 AT&T stores in the US.

You can Google yourself for the rest of the mobile company store numbers if that's your thing.

That was my first thought. Like, well, yeah this isn’t strange at all. More outlets, by a factor of ten or twenty or more, plus you need a cell contract to make them work and you’ll get more sales through the places that you can do it all at once. Same goes for iPads and Macs. Apple is the primary company that sells those, plus they don’t need a contract with anyone to get them running, so yeah Apple would sell more of them.