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New report claims China leads demand for iPhone 5s over 5c, 78% of new iPhones globally are 5s

How many of those 9 million first weekend sales were for the iPhone 5s vs the iPhone 5c? There’s been a lot of speculation about how many of each device Apple is selling, and whether or not lack of availability of the gold iPhone 5s is due to low supply or simply the higher demand. Apple is staying quiet on the breakdown of 5s units vs 5c, but today we get some solid insight from Localytics after the research firm tracked over 20 million unique active iPhones since launch day on Friday.

72 hours after the launch of the new devices, Localytics found that China, not the U.S., had the highest relative share of iPhone 5s vs 5c sales.

Globally an average of 78% of new iPhones sold were iPhone 5s models, while China came in at 91% 5s. It’s somewhat surprising considering analysts have largely expected the 5c to do well in China and other emerging markets, but the report speculates that the fact that gold is a popular color in the country could be driving higher demand for the 5s.That compares to the U.S. at 76% and an average of 82% in other countries. It appears the UK has the highest share of 5c sales as “the only country that didn’t have at least a 3 to 1 ratio of 5s  to 5c activations.”

Localytics also tells us that currently “the U.S. accounts for 68% of all active iPhone 5s and 5c devices worldwide, with Japan in second place with 13% of 5s and 5c’s

Global-market-share2

We reported in the days before the new iPhone launch that both carriers and US retailers would be receiving little to no stock of the gold and white iPhone 5s models, and the same turned out to be true for many Apple retail stores around the world on launch day.

In the U.S. and most of Apple’s other initial launch countries, shipping times for the iPhone 5c have once again improved to “within 24 hours” on Apple’s website, while all models of the iPhone 5s are shipping by October and in limited supply through Apple stores and retail partners.

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Comments

  1. micsaw - 11 years ago

    Apple missed the boat by not having a black color of the 5c, people buy black not bright colors. Now we have no black iphone to buy 5s or 5c dum move.

    • Freddy (@fredkelch) - 11 years ago

      space gray?

    • standardpull - 11 years ago

      Wrong.

      The iPhone 5C is last year’s model and people know that. Yes, Apple gave it some spice with the new case, but that’s all. If the 5C was beginning to reach the level of sales of the 5S, that’d be a huge cause for alarm.

  2. pedrorito - 11 years ago

    huummm… 24+76=100% but 82+28=110%

  3. Gregory Wright - 11 years ago

    I don’t understand why iPhone 5s position is such big deal. People who buy Apple products want a better product. That is why we pay a little more for the best.

  4. The iPhone 5C is a step down. People were expecting the 5 for the same price. The 5C should be free for the 16GB model on 2-yr contract.

    [Hey 9t5M, how about setting a freaking cookie so we don’t have to log in every-time we want to leave a comment?]

  5. Winston Tyson - 11 years ago

    The Chinese are total new money, super status oriented and materialistic. Showy. High end anything will sell. Just like the Russians. Poor generation after generation, there’s a rush to display any newfound wealth. Hence, the desire for ‘top of the line’ anything.

Author

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jordan Kahn

Jordan writes about all things Apple as Senior Editor of 9to5Mac, & contributes to 9to5Google, 9to5Toys, & Electrek.co. He also co-authors 9to5Mac’s Logic Pros series.