Survey shows the iPhone 13 line accounting for a whopping 71% of U.S. iPhone sales in Q1

Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) released some new data today showing that the iPhone 13 series made up 71% of all U.S. iPhone sales in the third quarter. That was higher than the 61% of U.S. iPhone sales that the iPhone 12 series accounted for last year at this time when it was the most recent iPhone series available.

The iPhone 13 series not only had the highest share of quarterly U.S. iPhone sales seen for some time, but at 38% the iPhone 13 had the highest share of any single model in the U.S. for some time. Josh Lowitz, CIRP Partner, and Co-Founder, noted that "Post-pandemic buyers flocked to Apple’s newest phones, even though they had only incremental improvements over previous models."

While the iPhone 13 made up 38% of first-quarter iPhone sales in the U.S., the year-ago leader in this category was the iPhone 11 with 24% of sales. The iPhone 12 was right behind with a 22% share during the first quarter of 2021.

The iPhone mini models, expected to be removed from the lineup with this fall's iPhone 14 series, continue to have poor sales with the iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 13 mini each accounting for only 3% of iPhone purchases in the U.S. during the initial quarter of 2022.

One interesting trend that is affecting the numbers is a reversal in how long iPhone users are holding on to their current devices. The numbers had been suggesting that smartphone users, in general, were holding on to their phones for three years at the least instead of two due to higher prices, better build quality, and longer software support. But as far as the iPhone is concerned, Mike Levin, CIRP Partner, and Co-Founder says that "iPhone buyers are also keeping their old phone for a shorter time, reversing a long-term trend."

Levin adds, "In the past year the age of the old phone declined steadily, and now only about 20% of buyers had their previous phone for three years or longer. Since the market shifted to unsubsidized phone sales on installment contracts, the age of old phones climbed as owners enjoyed using their paid-for phones. Recently that trend reversed, perhaps as options for trading-in high value used phones continued to improve."

The survey is based on 500 Apple customers who recently purchased an iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Watch in the January-March 2022 quarter.