Apple’s iPhones have been oscillating below the 50% market share mark in the US ever since the OG iPhone inception in 2007. On last Q2 count, 48% of Americans carried iPhones and the rest Android phones, save for a few luddites.
Now, however, the quartet of iPhone 13 handsets and the introduction of the budget iPhone SE, have managed to boost iPhone ownership above the 50% threshold for the first time, reports Counterpoint Research.
This means that the US phone users are now predominantly carrying Apple devices and the trend is likely to continue with the iPhone 14 series launch on September 16 as Apple is expected to release its first cheap big phone then.
There’s never been anything like the 6.7″ iPhone 14 Max (or iPhone 14 Plus, depending on whose rumors one chooses to believe) as its big screen street cred has heretofore been reserved for members of the Pro family that are, however, way more expensive.
With the iPhone 14 taking the budget end of the spectrum, and Apple slotting a phone in each niche above it this year, its market share in the US may keep on climbing until it reaches a new peak in Q4 thanks to early iPhone 14 Pro Max and iPhone 14 Max adopters.
While there might be no more than ten iPhone models in wider circulation, the Android camp in the US sports no less than 150 devices, mostly from Samsung and Motorola which may soon be fighting for scraps if Apple continues its ascent in the world’s most visible phone market.
This would also mean many extra billions of revenue from apps and services for Apple, as one a user gets locked into a particular ecosystem, they are unlikely to switch unless for a very compelling reason, and Apple’s iOS is notorious with its stickiness. Say what you will about Tim Cook’s quantity over innovation strategy, but this all happened under his direct supervision and, according to Ben Wood, an analyst at CCS Insight:
Cook has taken what Jobs gave him and has built an empire out of this. Because anyone who buys an iPhone – whether it’s second-hand, third-hand, or fourth-hand – will probably give Apple some money buying apps, paying for iCloud, using Apple Music, or transacting on Apple Pay. And that’s a model that no one else, really, has been able to replicate.
