After our post last week showing slower adoption rates for the latest iPhone models compared to previous year’s models, we received questions about each country’s adoption.
Our most recent data shows that people in Asia are adopting the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus the fastest, especially when it comes to the larger 6S Plus. But before we dive into the country-specific data, it’s important to look at overall adoption growth in the last week.
Two Weeks In – Apple 6S and 6S Plus Continue to Be Adopted Slower Than 6 and 6 Plus
Looking at the first two weeks of adoption for the new iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, we’re continuing to see slower adoption of the 2015 “S” models than we did of the 2014 models.
Globally, the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus now account for 2.6% of all iPhones, representing a 0.7 percentage point increase over last week’s results. This indicates that the most growth came in the first week — likely due to people who pre-ordered their phones and received them in the first couple days after release.
In comparison, last year’s iPhone 6 and 6 Plus accounted for 4.0% of all iPhones, two weeks into their availability in 2014.
Japan Adopts New iPhone Models The Fastest
Of the 12 countries where the 6S and 6S Plus are available, Japan has adopted the new models the fastest, as the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus now account for 6% of all iPhones in Japan.
Other countries lagging behind the average include the UK, China, France and New Zealand, with Canada being the slowest overall adopter.
Big Screens are Most Popular in Hong Kong, China
The iPhone 6S Plus and the iPhone 6 Plus are both considered phablet devices — with a screen size measuring 5.5 inches. It turns out that Asian countries, especially people in Hong Kong, are adopting the larger screen 6S Plus faster than any other country. 1.8% of the iPhones in the country are the 6S Plus, and an additional 22.3% belonging to the now 1-year-old iPhone 6 Plus.
China comes in second, with 0.6% of all iPhones the 6S Plus model and 20.4% the 6 Plus. Despite an overall lower adoption in China compared to other countries, China remains a big market for large-screen devices.
With more countries gaining access to the new models starting today, it should be interesting to see what happens next.
Methodology
Localytics is the leading lifecycle engagement platform across more than 2.7 billion devices and 37,000 mobile and web apps. Localytics processes 120 billion data points monthly. For this study, we examined over 50 million iOS devices. For the iPhone adoption data, we examined the relative percentage of iPhones in the subsequent two weeks after each device’s release. For the country breakdown, Localytics examined the relative adoption rate in each of the twelve countries that released the iPhones on September 25th.
