Launch Day Survey Finds 90% of iPhone 5s/5c Buyers Were Upgrading Their Existing iPhone

Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster published results of his team's iPhone 5s/5c launch day survey which found that 90% of buyers were upgrading their existing device.

Notably, Philip Elmer-Dewitt counted 1410 people in line at the Fifth Ave Apple Store. Munster counted 1417.

Fortune relays Munster's findings:


● 90% of iPhone 5S/5C buyers were upgrading from another version of the iPhone compared to 83% for the iPhone 5 launch and 73% for the iPhone 4S. We note that given the relative maturity of the smartphone market in the US, it is not surprising to see that a majority of iPhone 5S/5C buyers were current iPhone users. We believe that the high level of iPhone users upgrading to the new 5S or 5C demonstrates continued high loyalty levels among iPhone users.
● 36% upgraded from the iPhone 5 (i.e. upgraded from the most recent phone) vs 26% upgrading from the 4S during last years iPhone 5 launch. Our take is that the increasing percentage of iPhone users upgrading from the most recent device shows that Apple loyalists remain committed to the Apple platform.
● In terms of storage, average capacity was 34.5GB vs 31.4GB for the iPhone 5. We note that the iPhone 5C is only offered in 16 and 32GB versions, which may have impacted the overall average capacity numbers for the launch. Overall, based on the breakdown between capacity levels, we remain comfortable with our ASP assumption of a slight rebound from the newer products in September followed by a gradual decline into th e $560-570 range in CY14.
● 72% of iPhone 5S/5C customers owned iPads compared to 63% last year.
● Interest in iPad remains at similar levels to last year. 46% of those customers surveyed suggested that they planned on buying a new iPad over the next 12 months, which compares to 34% last year.
● Of those consumers expecting to purchase an iPad over the next 12 months, 53% were interested in buying an iPad Mini and 47% in the full-sized iPad.