With four times as many stores, Best Buy is selling almost as many iPhones as Apple itself does. The retail chain has become an important outlet for Apple products. This comes from a report by AllThingsD.
Best Buy sells a lot of iPhones, almost as many as Apple. This, according to new data from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP).
From AllThingsD:
The firm surveyed iPhone buyers in December 2011, and January and February 2012, asking them where they purchased the device. And it found that retail stores accounted for 76 percent of iPhone sales; and online stores, 24 percent. When the iPhone 4S first launched, retail stores and online outlets accounted for 67 percent and 33 percent of sales, respectively, largely due to online preorders.
The breakdown of the stores? It goes like this, according to CIRP, Apple sold 15 percent of all iPhones purchased in the U.S. during the period of the survey (retail: 11 percent/online: 4 percent). Meanwhile, AT&T sold 32 percent via its online and retail stores; Verizon, 30 percent — again, online and off; and Sprint, 7 percent.
Best Buy sold 13 percent, just shy of the 15 percent of sales Apple itself tallied. The remaining 3 percent, listed as “Other”, accounts for other retailers, such as Radio Shack and Walmart, and survey participants who received their iPhone as a gift and weren’t sure where it had been purchased.
It’s apparent that the carriers drive sales when it comes to iPhones, but retail partners like Best Buy are important as well. Almost as important as the Apple Store itself.