Further proving that the iPhone 6 Plus is a massive hit for Apple, selling far better than the company had anticipated, a new report from Kantar Worldpanel reveals that the 5.5-inch iPhone accounted for 41% of all phablet sales in the U.S. during the three-month period ending on October 14th.
FROM EARLIER: You can finally get your iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus from Apple within a week
That’s even more impressive when you consider that the iPhone 6 Plus was launched on September 19th, which means in one month, Apple managed to sell two phablets for every three such devices sold by competitors in the entire three-month period.
Beyond that, the iPhone 6 Plus was significantly constrained iPhone 6 following its launch, with Apple having started to catch up with demand only in mid-November.
Kantar noted that phablet sales accounted for 10% of smartphone sales during the period, a significant increase from last year, when phablets only had a 2% share of overall smartphone sales.
It’s also worth noting that Samsung’s Galaxy Note 4 wasn’t exactly widely available during the period, with the top Android phablet having had a limited late September launch.
Apple’s choice to finally increase screen size in its iPhone has paid off for the company, as iPhone 6 buyers were primarily interested in the increased display of the new iPhones.
“At the point of sale, when asked what drove their choice of smartphones, 58% of those surveyed who bought an iPhone 6 Plus said screen size was the primary reason for choosing their device,” Kantar said. “Despite the more compact design of the iPhone 6, 60% of consumers who chose it also cited screen size as the primary purchase driver. The ability to connect to a 4G/LTE network was the second most important reason cited by both buyer groups.”
“Of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus buyers, 85% were repeat iOS buyers and 9% churned from Android,” Kantar added.
Kantar also revealed sales details for other iPhones Apple currently has in stock, saying the iPhone 6 had 33% market share of all iOS handset sales, while the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c got 26% and 16% share, respectively, during the period.
The full report is available at the source link.
