DailyTech - Quick Note: iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS Take Top Two Smartphone Sales Spots in Q3

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Gadgets Quick Note: iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS Take Top Two Smartphone Sales Spots in Q3
Brandon Hill (Blog) - November 14, 2011 2:39 PM

18 comment(s) - last by semiconshawn.. on Nov 16 at 9:36 AM

Apple's 2+ year old iPhone 3GS is still selling strong

Apple's iPhone 3GS may be showing a few grey hairs on its chin (at least in terms of the lifespan of the average smartphone), but it's still a big seller in the United States according to The NDP Group. The market research firm just released its smartphone handset sales figures for the fourth quarter which show that the Apple iPhone 4 and the iPhone 3GS were the #1 and #2 bestselling smartphones for the third quarter.

Here are the top five smartphones:

Apple iPhone 4
Apple iPhone 3GS
HTC EVO 4G
Motorola Droid 3
Samsung Intensity II

NPD's research also showed that the average selling price for smartphones (on contract) declined to $135 during Q3.

Apple's 8GB iPhone 3GS was selling for $99 with a two-year contract until the launch of the iPhone 4S. Now the phone is available for free with a two-year contract while the 8GB iPhone 4 has moved into the $99 spot.

Source: The NPD Group

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Go figure

By Samus on 11/14/2011 3:24:04 PM , Rating: 5

Who isn't going to take a FREE 3GS. Good marketing move for a still relevent phone. I couldn't ever bring myself to buying a phone without a physical keyboard, but I've still managed to migrate quite a few people away from their Blackberry to the iPhone, and I prefer setting them up with Microsoft Exchange over Blackberry, much simpler.

So basically, I believe a lot of corporate and business users are moving to iPhone, especially since it is tri-carrier now.

RE: Go figure

By bah12 on 11/14/2011 3:55:28 PM , Rating: 1

Agreed. On a related note I think the worst thing MS did was licence Exchange push to Apple. Before that they weren't allowed anywhere near my network, but now they are easy as pie to setup (way easier than crackberries). I'm sure MS is getting some good fees back for it, but I seriously doubt the iPhone would have near the corporate market without Exchange integration. We were a blackberry, WiMo shop before that, but now I easily recommend the iPhone. When my 3 year old can figure out how to use it so can my CEO :)

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RE: Go figure

By bjacobson on 11/14/2011 5:10:53 PM , Rating: 2

should they have saved it for their WM7 phones only? Hm...

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RE: Go figure

By Camikazi on 11/14/2011 5:39:03 PM , Rating: 2

Probably would have helped them in the corporate level :P

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RE: Go figure

By Reclaimer77 on 11/14/2011 9:41:18 PM , Rating: 1

quote:
Who isn't going to take a FREE 3GS.

Me :)

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RE: Go figure

By kmmatney on 11/15/2011 1:19:50 AM , Rating: 3

It's better than free. Work pays my monthly bill, but I can buy whatever phone I want and keep it if I pay for it myself. I bought a 3GS for $199 when it came out over 2 years ago, and recently sold it for $255, after getting my 4S. And while I like the 4S, I'm really missing the free tethering I had with the old 3GS, and the easy jailgreaking with the old bootrom.

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RE: Go figure

By Onimuto on 11/15/2011 10:21:11 PM , Rating: 2

what retard bought a 3gs for $255. And how could you take advantage of a persons ignorance? I dramatically hate people who take advantage of others to the point of physical indiscipling them.

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The death ofthe spec

By Tony Swash on 11/14/2011 6:16:59 PM , Rating: 1

This is an interesting and, I think, relevant article.

http://techcrunch.com/2011/11/14/rip-spec/

RE: The death ofthe spec

By its tom hanks on 11/14/2011 7:40:43 PM , Rating: 3

quote:
In other words, the way you compete in computing now is to do so by focusing on things that human beings understand.

some of us still understand specs and don't just buy what a certain company tells us we have to buy or we wont be cool.

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RE: The death ofthe spec

By themaster08 on 11/15/2011 3:18:29 AM , Rating: 2

Absolutely, since the only differences between the iPhone 4 and 4S are specs....

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RE: The death ofthe spec

By Tony Swash on 11/15/2011 7:38:28 AM , Rating: 2

quote:
Absolutely, since the only differences between the iPhone 4 and 4S are specs....

Exactly - which is why I suspect that few iPhone 4 users will be buying iPhone 4s. Whats matters is the palpable difference in function or feature. Back in the PC days a jump of one third in processor speed often made a palpable difference in actual use. For most iPhone 4 users (except real game heads) the increase in processor speed in the 4s is probably invisible. On the other hand for someone such as myself the jump from the 3gs to the 4s was a huge improvement in actual use, the camera alone is a reason for me to upgrade.

But what masters in all of this how things really perform. A faster process in an Android device won't overcome the tendency for the UI to be laggy - that's a feature of the OS - and cramming more megapixels into a phone's camera sensor won't compensate for the fact that the it's slow in use compared to, say, a 4s camera or that the images are not as pleasing.

People tend to have a more intimate relationship to devices so feel and form and sweetness of use will all count more than simple specs. Spec charts will have their use but they mean a lot less.

Gruber at Daring Fireball says it well:

quote:
Spec-based reviews of computers and gadgets are inherently flawed, a relic of an era that’s already gone. Movie reviews are about what the movie is like to watch. Is it enjoyable, is it entertaining, does it look and sound good? Imagine a movie review based on specs, where you gave points for how long it was, whether the photography is in focus, deduct points for continuity errors in the story, and then out comes a number like “7.5/10”, with little to no mention about, you know, whether the movie was effective as a piece of art.

But I wouldn’t argue that specs are “meaningless”. It’s just that they’re an implementation detail. Specs are something the device makers worry about insofar as how they affect the experience of using the device. Just like how focal length and lens aperture are something the cinematographer worries about insofar as how they affect what the viewer will see on screen.

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RE: The death ofthe spec

By Onimuto on 11/15/2011 10:27:24 PM , Rating: 2

quote:
which is why I suspect that few iPhone 4 users

Few? You mean the majority of iphone 4 users. i Highly doubt the greater majority was willing to pay full price for an iphone 4s.
After using and iphone 4s and comparing it to my 4 it was about as useless as tits on a boar hog. Unless it was a 64gig modle.
people who buy every singel iphone model are the Few.

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RE: The death ofthe spec

By semiconshawn on 11/16/2011 8:40:22 AM , Rating: 2

The 4S is worth $600 for this feature alone....."wake me up in 30 minutes"......."your alarm is now set for 8:09 am".

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The f*ck?

By quiksilvr on 11/14/2011 3:22:29 PM , Rating: 1

What about the Galaxy?

RE: The f*ck?

By matty123 on 11/14/2011 4:27:38 PM , Rating: 2

The galaxy or the galaxy s2? The s2 only entered the US market way to late to make a dent, not sure about the original galaxy but I assume it didn't move that many units in the states. Not sure how these numbers are calculated but one of the problems with the US market is carriers tend to take phones and then rebrand them, like with galaxy S2 the rest of the world has the international version {and korea has the HD and LTE models} but the states has 3 different models from what I can tell the Samsung 'EPIC 4G Touch', Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket i727 and the Samsung Galaxy S II T-Mobile. Not sure if these numbers are added up when calculating phones sold, could be they are through.

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RE: The f*ck?

By Solandri on 11/14/2011 7:58:08 PM , Rating: 1

More than likely, there is no "Samsung Galaxy" in their stats. It was probably broken up into the Samsung I9000, the Samsung Fascinate, the Samsung Captivate, the Samsung Vibrant, and the Samsung Epic 4G. Under the hood they're all the same phone. But each has features tailored to each carrier's request which makes them different.

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RE: The f*ck?

By semiconshawn on 11/16/2011 9:36:10 AM , Rating: 2

I have no idea why you would be downrated for this. It sounds almost too correct maybe?

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Few observations

By nafhan on 11/14/2011 4:39:32 PM , Rating: 3

1. Generally, the numbers aren't surprising given data on iOS usage. There are three phones being sold that run iOS and they've got the same name across all the carriers. Other companies seem to feel the need to rename the same phone for different carriers.
2. This means a lot of iPhone devs are going to continue to target the 3GS as a baseline.
3. Samsung Intensity isn't really a smartphone in the usual sense. It looks like Verizon doesn't even require you to get a smartphone data plan with it.