Survey: Interest in New iPhone Models Approaching Lowest Levels Ever

The launch of last year’s iPhone X was not only supposed to be a celebration of the ten year popularity of the iPhone, but also as a sort of ushering of a new era of ultra advanced smartphone capabilities.  But according to the results of a survey recently conducted by Wall Street research firm Cowen, it appears that the number of mobile users who currently own iPhones and are planning to purchase a new iPhone model are nearing historically low levels.

What Cowen did was ask various consumers what kind of smartphone they think they will be getting when they decide to buy or upgrade to a new device, and the number of postpaid subscribers from major US carriers Verizon Wireless, AT&T, and Sprint who picked a new iPhone model has moderated as compared to the previous quarter. Moreover, only 80.5 percent of postpaid customers who already own an iPhone device have claimed that they will purchase a new iPhone. That 80.5 percent is considered very low, even more so when compared with the previous quarter’s 87.6 percent.

It bears mentioning that Cowen had first began taking its consumer survey back in 2013, and has since continued conducting its study on a quarterly basis ever since. For its latest report, the research firm had polled about 1,100 respondents, asking them about their preferences according to which wireless service provider they like, or which smartphone make or model they want. 

The difference between 80.5 percent and 87.6 percent is indeed intriguing, to say the least, especially when one considers that the two surveys were taken just three months apart. As pointed out by Cowen, the decreasing interest in buying a newer iPhone model might have something to do with the fact that the iPhone X is Apple’s most expensive iPhone offering ever. 

Moreover, it appears that a significant number of iOS mobile users still feel that the latest iPhone models simply do not offer new features that are awesome enough for owners of old iPhone devices to get them to buy a new iPhone. Cowen also made a note that the newest iPhones combined have had only a small impact Apple’s sales for the final quarter of 2017. 

To be fair, the release of the iPhone X was surrounded by some interesting circumstances. Apart from the fact that it comes with a rather high $1,000 price, it had to deal with problems related to availability. Because stocks were kind of limited, various wireless carriers in America were hesitant to introduce promotional deals and special offers for the device, at least as compared to iPhone releases of previous years.