Any notions of the iPhone 5 somehow not living up to the enormous hype have been spectacularly doused this week, as new research suggests that no less than 65% of consumers are looking to invest in an iPhone at some time in the near future. And of the 65% heading Apple’s way, a staggering 51% said that they will be investing in iPhone 5 as soon as possible following the release of the iPhone 5 later this year – essentially equating to 30% of all surveyed.
Incredible Loyalty
According to Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray, over 94% of current iPhone owners have no intention of straying to other pastures when choosing a new Smartphone in the coming months. Added together with the 2.9% of respondents that stated they had not yet decided with way to go, Munster estimates that an incredible 80 million iPhone 5 sales are already guaranteed, even at this early stage and without any official word on the device.
This is of course not taking into account the enormous number of consumer that may be swayed away from the Android camp and toward Apple’s side of the fence, when the sixth-generation iPhone’s specs and features are finally confirmed later this year.
Munster’s estimates peg the number of iPhone users on a global basis currently at around 170 million, though some suggest that including the current quarter the number is closer to 200 million.
No Call for 4-inch Display
One of the more curious revelations of the study came in relation to perhaps the most widely-debated and speculated iPhone 5 feature of all – the fabled 4-inch display Contrary to all expectations, when provided with speculative mockups of the iPhone 5, the majority of would-be buyers stated that they preferred the current 3.5-inch screen size to the simulated 4-inch model.
If so, this would seem to suggest that any efforts made by Apple to bump up the screen size are unnecessary, or perhaps that the Cupertino giant was right all along in the even that a 4-inch screen was never even under consideration.
While Google’s Android OS has retained its impressive market lead in terms of overall device sales and activations, Munster’s study found that less than 20% of current Android users have their hearts set on remaining with Android next time around. Historically, iOS users have demonstrated considerably more loyalty than their Android cousins.
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