w********1 发帖数: 3492 | 1 Tue, 26 Jun 2012 07:52:50 PDT
AllThingsD reports on an interesting survey from Consumer Intelligence
Research Partners (CIRP) studying the balance of iPhone sales among the
three major U.S. carriers at various points of sale such as Apple's retail
stores, Best Buy, and warehouse clubs and mass market retailers.
The survey shows that AT&T remains the clear market leader for the iPhone in
the United States, registering at 62% in aggregate and followed by Verizon
at 26% and Sprint at just 12%. But the most interesting data pertains to
the Sprint iPhone specifically, which represents just 9% of Apple retail
store iPhone sales compared to 18-19% at other retailers.
The report suggests that legacy availability is the prime reason for the
difference in popularity at the different sales outlets, with customers
likely to return to their previous points of purchase when it comes time to
buy new phones and remain loyal to their carriers. With Sprint being the
newest entrant of the three when it comes to the iPhone, its customers tend
to return to Best Buy and other long-time Sprint retailers to purchase an
iPhone rather going to an Apple retail store.
In other words, if you bought an iPhone from Apple on AT&T or Verizon and
you return to the store to buy another, you’re not likely to switch
carriers. And since Apple Stores have sold only AT&T and Verizon iPhones for
so long, Sprint’s seeing a bit less traction there than it is at retailers
like Best Buy, where it has had a longer-term presence.
“Sprint is really suffering from being third to the dance,” CIRP partner
Michael Levin told AllThingsD. “At the Apple Store and other carrier-
agnostic retailers, there is still very little switching, and Sprint just
doesn’t have enough existing customers walking through the door. … AT&T’s
installed base of iPhone customers and Verizon’s huge, satisfied customer
base are proving a barrier to Sprint growing its market share.”
Beyond the three major carriers, Apple has also been expanding its reach by
bringing the iPhone to a number of smaller regional and super-regional
carriers, and most recently began an expansion into the U.S. prepaid market
with Cricket last week and Virgin Mobile USA later this week. |
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