iPhone 5s Accounts for 59% of iPhone Sales in Q4 2013 [Report]

Both Localytics and Consumer Intelligence Research Partners have been keeping a close eye on the first weeks of iPhone sales and have found that the iPhone 5s has been a bigger hit than its “cheaper” iPhone 5c version. Now, looking back to the past quarter’s sales, CIRP is reinforces these earlier claims after three months of availability of the new models (via Re/Code).

The market research company has already pointed out that the iPhone 5c is apparently less popular than the iPhone 4S was a year ago when the iPhone 5 launched. By contrast, the iPhone 5s was the device of choice of more consumers than the iPhone 5 in the first full quarter.

To put that into numbers: the iPhone 5s was the choice of 59% of surveyed customers, 9% higher than that of the iPhone 5 a year previously.

The colourful iPhone 5c accounted for 27% of all sales, 5% less than the iPhone 4S recorded in 2012, when it was the mid-choice for iPhone buyers. This has led CIRP analysts conclude that if Apple had decided to keep the iPhone 5, it would have been more popular than the iPhone 5c.

“The design update worked for Apple, since the would-be mid-priced (iPhone) 5 customers seem to have migrated to the higher priced flagship 5s,” CIRP analyst Josh Lowitz said in an e-mail. “The jury is out on how successful the 5c was in attracting new customers, but we do know that Apple increased the average selling price of iPhones overall.”

The study’s findings are based on a survey of 500 Apple customers between October and December, 2013.