iPhone 5 sales reach first month of iPhone 4S sales

ComScore reports iPhone 5 sales in 3 days have reached iPhone 4S sales' first month

Do you have your iPhone 5 yet?  Are you getting it soon?  If not, we might need to put your name on a list of uncool people who can’t sit with the rest of us iPhone 5 owners at lunch. 

It’s no secret that iPhone 5 sales are already off the charts.  If you’re able-bodied, employed, and between the ages of 18 and 50, I’m assuming you’re getting the iPhone 5.  If you’re between the ages of 18 and 25, I’m assuming you’re standing in line right now. 

Apple famously announced last Monday that the iPhone 5 was the most successful iPhone launch ever.  And as the iPhone 4 was the most successful product launch in Apple history, this would now make the iPhone 5 the most successful product launch in Apple history.  Now, comScore is reporting that in three days, sales of the iPhone 5 have already reached the same level that the iPhone 4S reached in one month.

While comScore doesn’t have hard numbers, it says that iPhone 5 sales have reached 96% of what iPhone 4S sales were one month after launch.  And AT&T is leading the fray, with 68% of total U.S. online sales in the first three days, followed by Verizon with 24% and Sprint with 8%.

There are a couple of factors at play here.  First off, a lot of people were holding out for the iPhone 5, which was largely believed to be the reason iPhone sales dropped off last quarter (analysts were expecting 29-30 million units sold, and Apple came up short with 26 million sold).

“Post-holiday Q1 traditionally sees the weakest sales of new devices with Q2 bouncing back. However, in 2012 handset purchases actually declined from Q1 to Q2. It’s highly possible that those people eligible for upgrades held out buying a new device in anticipation of the fall release of the iPhone 5,” the research group said in a blog post.

But another big factor is smartphone migration.  There were 24 million more people with smartphones in July 2012 than October 2011, when the iPhone 4S launched.  Some 114 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones as of July 2012, up 7% from April.  Apple holds the number two OS spot with a 33% market share, following Android’s 52% market share.

Apple revealed earlier this week that pre-orders for the iPhone 5 topped two million in the first 24 hours that it was available for pre-order—double that of the iPhone 4S.  When the iPhone 5 was unveiled on September 12, comScore says that three million people in the U.S. conducted a search on the term.

Image source: cultofmac