If you want a new iPhone, you have a choice. You can buy the brushed aluminum iPhone 5S or the less expensive plastic and colorful iPhone 5C. After more than a week of sales, the preliminary data is in: nearly three quarters of Americans chose the iPhone 5S.
Mobile analytics company Localytics has been tracking new iPhone activations over the last week and has found the preference for the iPhone 5S to be strong all across the country. San Francisco leads in the sentiment, with 85% of new iPhone buyers preferring the 5S over 5C. Philadelphia comes in at the low end, with only 72% of new iPhone purchases the 5S.
The most new iPhones have been purchased in the largest American cities with New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago leading the way. Of all active iPhones in New York (including older models such as the iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S), about 0.11% are either the iPhone 5S or iPhone 5C.
As has been the case since the iPhone was announced in 2007, AT&T leads all the other carriers in iPhone activations (AT&T held exclusive rights to sell the iPhone in the U.S. until 2011). The iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C are available on all four major carriers now and about 1% of all active iPhones on AT&T are either the 5S or 5C. That’s not bad for only a week’s worth of sales. Verizon has 0.8% of the new iPhones, while Sprint and T-Mobile have at or slightly below 0.2%.
Both AT&T and Verizon sell mostly the iPhone 5S, with around 80% of activations. The ratio is more evenly split at Sprint and T-Mobile, where 54% and 60% of activations are the iPhone 5S over the iPhone 5C, respectively.
Image courtesy of Reuters/Toru Hanai
