A new poll recently revealed an interesting detail, which says that out of the lot of the current iPhone users, nearly a quarter of them are already planning on buying Apple’s next smartphone, even before knowing what features it will entail. A survey of hundreds of Americans about their plans to upgrade to the next iPhone revealed that 22 percent of them intend to take the leap. This is just slightly less than the upgrade demand in 2017, but almost 50 percent more than in 2016.
The market analysis over the past two years showed that the annual iPhone growth will settle into a more predictable 1-5 percent range. Even though half of the Apple users are planning to upgrade to the device still on Apple’s drawing board, not everyone is so perceptive. Approximately, 30 percent have their eyes on the iPhone 8 while nearly 20 percent want an iPhone X.
The iPhone X came out last year, and its replacement isn’t expected for about six more months. Currently, there are no trustworthy rumours about what Apple is planning. Much of the discussion revolves around the fact that whether Apple was right to remove the ‘Home’ button from the iPhone X and replace it with a screen cutout.
A recent survey in U.S. and China revealed a solid pent-up demand for Apple’s 11th generation iPhones. This bottled-up demand for iPhones is being driven by the ageing installed base of handsets. The percentage of iPhones in use that are two or more generations old is at a peak level and the replacement cycles have extended in the recent years as customers have got more value out of the current phones and waited for a good reason to upgrade.
Morgan Stanley’s October survey revealed that the percentage of customers loyal to iPhones, and ones making the switch to iPhones have increased since its April survey. The percentage of iPhone users planning to stick with the brand has increased, while the percentage of non-iPhone users buying an iPhone has also increased.
While iPhones chip in majorly to the revenue and profits of the company, the Apple Watch is also growing in importance, and will potentially double the revenue contribution to Apple Watch Series 3 with built-in cellular connectivity.
The substantial demands for the unannounced iPhone show trust in the brand, which is welcomed by Apple, since the company’s reputation has slipped a bit recently. The company’s ranking fell from the 5th place to 29th on the latest Harris Poll Reputation Quotient. It was also recently said to have lower charisma than many other brands. Still, Apple is ranked first for brand intimacy among millennials. Moreover, iPhones may have room to move higher with teens anticipating their next phone to be an iPhone.