There are now over 100 million iPhones in use in the United States at the end of September 2015, says new data shared by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners [PDF]. More than two-thirds of those iPhones were released in 2014 and 2015.
An estimated 58 million of the 101 million iPhones in use were the iPhone 6 or 6 Plus, while four million were iPhone 6s and 6s Plus models. The iPhone 6, 6s, 6 Plus, and 6s Plus are the four iPhones that have larger 4.7 and 5.5 inch screens, and the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 appears to be the most popular model. CIRP’s data was gathered in September, shortly after the iPhone 6s launch. iPhone 6s and 6s Plus numbers are likely much higher now.
“The analysis shows the continued strength of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, now one year old,” said Mike Levin, Partner and Co-Founder of CIRP. “We estimate a combined 60 million of these flagship phones sold in the US from the September 2014 launch through September 30, 2015. For comparison, the iPhone 5S sold about 28 million in the same period in 2013-2014. With only a weekend of availability in the quarter, we estimate 4 million of the new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus sold in the US.”
CIRP’s data also suggests that iPhone adoption is slowing a bit in the U.S. as the U.S. smartphone market continues to mature. The iPhone installed base had grown an estimated 8% on average over the past eight quarters, but the installed base grew 4% in the September 2015 quarter and 6% in the September 2014 quarter.
In the face of that maturation, Apple has begun focusing its attention on “switchers,” users who move from Android and other competing platforms. The Cupertino firm debuted a new “Move to iOS” app for Android earlier this year, along with a trade-in program for Android users switching to iOS.
Those efforts have proved successful, as Apple saw the highest rate of Android switchers ever in the fourth quarter of 2015. Apple CEO Tim Cook said 30% of customers upgrading to an iPhone from another smartphone were former Android users.
