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James Martin/CNET
Apple’s iPhone 6 is the most popular iPhone out there, according to a new report.
The iPhone 6 holds a leading 30 percent share among all iPhones on the market, mobile marketing and analytics firm Localytics said on Tuesday. Released last September with a 4.7-inch screen, the iPhone 6 was one of two new iPhones that paved Apple’s way into the big-screen phone arena. But Apple’s other large phone — the iPhone 6 Plus with its 5.5-inch display — grabbed only a 9.1 percent share, according to Localytics. That seems to be a sign that iPhone users like their phone displays and the phones themselves large but not too large.
Still, the decision to counter the competition with big-screened phones has been a success for Apple. Both the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus were adopted at a faster rate than were the iPhone 5S and 5C, Localytics said. The larger-screened iPhones also see more apps opened per month than do their predecessors.
On Wednesday, Apple is due to unveil its next iPhone lineup — expected to be dubbed the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6S Plus. Apple is likely to stick with the same screen sizes sported by last year’s model. Does that mean the iPhone 6S will eventually take the crown as the most popular iPhone model as seen by Localytics? That’s hard to say.
The 6S will be an interim upgrade, sporting one or two major new features and mostly minor updates in processor power, the camera and perhaps a few other items. Adoption of the new 6S will depend not only on its features but also on the upgrade cycle for smartphone users. Mobile phone customers still on a two-year subscription plan who opted for the iPhone 6 will mostly bypass the 6S and wait for the iPhone 7. Users who are on an installment plan where they pay for their phone on a monthly basis may choose to jump up to the 6S if the features provide enough of an incentive.
But Apple’s older phones still command a large audience, according to Localytics. For the latest study, the iPhone 5S came in second place with a market share of 23.7 percent, followed by the iPhone 5 with 12.8 percent. The iPhone 4S picked up an 8.8 percent share, just behind the iPhone 6 Plus. At the back of the line were the iPhone 5C with a share of 8.5 percent and the iPhone 4 with 5.3 percent.
Localytics
“Generally, Apple’s newest iPhones generate a solid market share, with around 30 percent to 40 percent adoption one year after the release,” Localytics said. “For example, the iPhone 5, released in 2012, had a 35 percent market share one year later in 2013. The next year, 2013, two models were released — the iPhone 5s and 5c — and the overall adoption dipped to 33 percent, with the majority being the iPhone 5s, one year later in 2014. Now, one year later, we see the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, launched last year, make up 39 percent of all iPhones on the market, the highest adoption of new iPhone releases.
The larger-screened iPhones also generate more app usage. The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus each score more than 15 app sessions per month, followed by the 5S with 14 app sessions and the 5C with 13.1. Buyers of new phones tend to launch apps more often, but devices with bigger screens also typically see greater use of apps, Localytics said.
For its latest study, Localytics analyzed the number of active mobile app sessions on more than 100 million iPhones during the month of August.
