CIRP: Older iPhone Models Accounted For Nearly Half Of All iPhone Sales In Q1

Surprisingly, the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 4S seem to account for nearly half of all of the iPhone sales in Q1 2013. According to new research data from the Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP), the older iPhones made sales that went neck-to-neck with Apple's latest iPhone, the iPhone 5. The CIRP discovered that in Q1, 14% of consumers purchased an iPhone 4, 33% of consumers purchased an iPhone 4S, and 53% of consumers purchased an iPhone 5.

Analysts believe that its the low prices of the older generation of iPhones that is driving the high sales rates. With consumers being able to purchase the iPhone 4 for $0 on a new two-year contract, and an iPhone 4S for only $99 on a new two-year contract, they're more prone to opt for those devices than the more expensive $200+ iPhone 5. But the wide adoption of older iPhones isn't a bad thing for Apple.

According to AllThingsD, and their interview with CIRP co-founder Michael Levin, low cost iPhone 4/4S devices have been helping Apple drive up sales. According to CIRP, 29% of iPhone buyers were previously feature phone users before upgrading, and another 29% of iPhone buyers came from another mobile OS like Android or Blackberry. A majority of those people are apparently not opting for the iPhone 5, but instead for the iPhone 4 and 4S. Michael Levin says,

"There's plenty of demand for low- and no-cost phones, which tend to flow toward basic phone owners. On average they don't seem to jump from a cheap or free flip phone all the way to iPhone 5."

Jumping back to sales in Q4 2012, iPhone 4/4S sales generated exactly 50% of all iPhone sales. Perhaps these statistics show that it would be a good move for Apple to build that budget iPhone it has been rumored to be working on. According to analysts, if Apple were to create a budget iPhone, it could grab nearly 75 million sales for the phone by 2014. If you're debating on joining the iPhone crowd, check out our reviews for the iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, and iPhone 5 to see which one will be enough to suit your needs.

[via All Things D]