Since the iPhone first arrived in Australia in 2008, more than 11.7 million have been sold down under, with nearly $13 billion spent on iPhones in the last five years alone – how many will buy this year?
Shopping comparison site Finder, which has also morphed into a type of general yet specific news site with obvious ambitions to take everyone on, including some or all of the publications it seeks to have its findings published in, has released interesting stats on iPhone purchases.
Over at its Smartphone Popularity Index, which helps you to “discover the most popular mobile phones in Australia”, we see a chart showing that Apple remains the dominant brand by popularity, with an index score of 30 in August 2017, followed by Samsung at 15, and a mix of HTC, Google, Huawei, LG, Sony, Alcatel, Microsoft, Oppo, Motorola, Blackberry, Boost and a strange brand I’ve never heard of called Ruggear all clustered in between zero and about 2.5 on the index scale.
So, what is this index?
{loadposition alex08}We’re told that it is “a measure of the most popular phones selected by users when they use the finder mobile plan comparison tool”, and that “it is not a record of phone sales or contract sign-ups".
Another chart shows us that the iPhone 7 is by far and away the most popular smartphone in August 2017 (and back to October 2016), followed by the iPhone 7 Plus, and then the Samsung Galaxy S8, with the other flagships or past flagships making up the rest of the list.
To see full image on mobile, please turn phone horizontal:
You can find Finder’s list of iPhone sales stats here, which breaks down that $12.89 billion figure and chart above from the past five years of iPhone sales.
As for how many Australians are predicted to buy a new iPhone this September, Finder predicts the following:
- At least 150,000 Aussies will purchase a new iPhone this September.
- With a price tag of at least $1000, that’s potentially $150 million in sales in Australia for the tech giant.
- Looking within the three month of the launch (September to November), finder.com.au estimates that 1.2 million Aussies could switch to one of the newest models.
- Finder research shows that on average, Aussies have had the same phone for a year and a half (17 months) and they don’t plan to change phones for another 18 months, meaning overall, we hold on to a particular model for about three years.
For me, it seems clear that, whichever way you look at it, Apple’s iPhones will continue their run of incredible popularity, as Finder has charted for the past, and clearly predicts for the future despite words like “could switch".
With Apple set to announce its fastest ever mobile processors, its most advanced cameras yet, and a host of new features and benefits with hopefully more than a few surprises thrown in given all the leaks of the past few months, iPhones should enjoy yet another major super-cycle of sales, despite Samsung’s Note8 which itself has included virtually every feature known to man and woman, including some that Apple itself still doesn’t offer, like a built-in stylus.
More to come via the iPhone launch in a few hours, which has likely already happened as you're reading this, with no doubt plenty more findings from Finder, Whistleout, and every tech publication on the planet.