CIRP data shows buyers want value as iPhone 11 proves popular in Q1 2020

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By Oliver Haslam
published

iPhones
iPhones (Image credit: iMore)

What you need to know

  • CIRP data for the first quarter of 2020 is now available.
  • It shows iPhone 11 was the most popular iPhone of the quarter.
  • It replaced the popular iPhone XR in top spot.

Apple's iPhone 11 was the most popular iPhone during the first quarter of 2020, according to new data provided by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP).

The numbers show that the cheaper iPhone 11 was more popular than the more costly iPhone 11 Pro. Apple's iPhone XR was the previous champ, with it now being ousted by iPhone 11.

"iPhone 11 is the dominant model in the lineup," said Josh Lowitz, CIRP Partner and Co-Founder. "Not surprisingly, it took the place of last year's iPhone XR as the most popular phone. The more expensive iPhone 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max together improved share, relative to the similar top-of-the-line iPhone XS and XS Max a year ago. Notably, the oldest and lowest-priced iPhone 8 and 8 Plus had a relatively small 13% share of sales, weaker than the phones in the same positions last year. The release of the new price leader iPhone SE and likely retirement of the 8 and 8 Plus should alter the sales mix and put even further emphasis on newly released models in the upcoming quarter."

The report also notes that buyers are now keeping their phones for longer and longer. Three years wasn't out of the question, with more than a quarter of people keeping handsets for that long. That's a big jump on the 12% who said the same thing this time last year.

'We see clearly how iPhone owners now keep their phones for an increasingly longer time,' said Mike Levin, CIRP partner and cofounder. 'In the most recent quarter, 28% of buyers kept their old phone for three years or more, compared to only 12% four years ago.'

Previously the idea of customers keeping iPhones around for longer was something that would cause Apple concern. But with its continued focus on services, it simply needs more and more people to have access to them. Luckily for Apple, users don't need the latest iPhone to do that.

Oliver Haslam
Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too.

Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.