50% of U.S. iPhones Are Repeat Purchases

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Posted April 7, 2012 at 3:53pm by Shalom Levytam

About half of all U.S. iPhones are bought as replacements for existing iPhones, notes Horace Dediu of Asymco.

Dediu combined carrier sales data with comScore data on the US mobile install base for his analysis.

The latest comScore data (period ending February) shows that Android added 2.87 million users to its base while iPhone added 1.52 million. If we assume that Android sold a minimal number of replacements (due to the limited time in use of bulk of units) and round up to 3 million for February, and if we assume that Apple sells as many iPhones as Android (which is what Walkley suggests) then we can conclude that in the US roughly half the iPhones are bought as replacements for existing iPhones.

Dediu notes that we reach 50% penetration of smartphones, customer loyalty will become increasingly important. "You come for the product, you stay for the ecosystem."

He notes that so far the iPhone is getting a passing grade but Android has yet to be tested.

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50% of U.S. iPhones Are Repeat Purchases

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Russell - April 7, 2012 at 7:06pm

The yearly repeat purchases of iphones show how vain apple customers are.

Russell - April 7, 2012 at 7:00pm

"If we assume that Android sold a minimal number of replacements...and if we assume that Apple sells as many iPhones as Android...then we can conclude..." I conclude the author is trying to pass off his assumptions as accurate data.

joyz - April 7, 2012 at 4:23pm

Only now they've realized this? Sheesh....