A recent survey of US-based iPhone owners prompted Apple analyst Gene Munster of Piper Jeffrey to jump to two major conclusions, both of which suggest the iPhone 7 may be off to a great start this fall despite having no major redesign (via StreetInsider).
Munster surveyed roughly 400 iPhone owners regarding the iPhone 7 launch, and what he found was in line with his “bullish” expectations for the upcoming handset: 15% of current iPhone owners said they would upgrade this fall, and 29% said “maybe”.
The second core takeaway from Munster’s survey was that 67.5% of iPhone owners based in the US own an iPhone 6/6 Plus or older device, which means they would fall in the typical two-year carrier upgrade window. This install base is large enough to significantly boost iPhone 7 sales.
There are still a few months to go until the official launch of the iPhone 7, but the rumour mill has already revealed a few features the handset might sport. However, not everyone follows iPhone rumours. Munster is confident that the percentage of customers planning to upgrade when the handset is launched in the autumn will grow after the official Apple announcement.
However, Apple won’t be able to repeat the success it had with the launch of the iPhone 6, which, you may recall, set record iPhone sales during the holiday quarter of 2014 (74.5 million iPhones sold vs. 51 million units the same period a year prior).
