With the iPhone 16 and its “Plus,” “Pro,” and “Pro Max” buddies just around the corner, CIRP has released a report to understand what really drives American consumers to buy a new iPhone. While the main reason may come as no surprise—the need to upgrade an aging device—only 18 percent of buyers do so for Apple’s new features.
iPhone purchase motivations
L’CIRP studytitled “New Features Don’t Drive iPhone Purchases,” surveyed iPhone buyers from June 2023 to June 2024. Participants’ responses fell into six main categories:
- The old phone was obsolete
- The old phone was lost, broken or stolen
- Want the latest features?
- Financial incentives for operators
- Improved network quality (eg 5G)
- Influence of friends and family using iPhone
The report states that for the response to be “obsolete,” the previous phone had to be considered to no longer work properly, while “new features” means the user had a working phone but wanted improvements like a better camera or faster processor.
Why do people buy a new iPhone?
The main reason, mentioned by 44% of respondents, is the obsolescence of their old device. Next comes the fact that the phone was lost, broken or stolen, for 29%.
Only 18% of respondents said new features motivated their purchase, while operator incentives, network improvements, and influence from friends and family accounted for 9%.
If we take a step back, the result is not so astonishing after all. The majority of users have neither the need nor the desire to change their phone when it works perfectly.
Which category do you fall into? What is the reason that pushes you to change your iPhone? The iPhone 16 will be presented next Monday during Apple’s keynote.