iPhone gaining ground with lower-income fans
More people with modest incomes are placing calls for iPhones, according to Comscore.
(Credit: Apple)Apple and AT&T's decision to subsidize the price of the iPhone 3G is paying off with an increase in sales to lower-income folks.
Comscore released data earlier this week indicating that while most iPhone users are in the $100,000-a-year income bracket, those earning between $25,000 a year and $75,000 a year are the fastest-growing segment of new iPhone customers. iPhone adoption among those making $25,000 to $50,000 a year has grown 48 percent since June, according to the report.
"Fastest-growing" is always one of my favorite research terms because it usually implies "smallest." Comscore says 43 percent of iPhone owners make more than $100,000 a year, but thinks those Joe-Hockey-Sixpack-Moms out there are starting to realize they can get away with just an iPhone and pare down the multiple devices they used to use for making calls, listening to music, or playing games.
The fact that they only have to spend $199 to acquire an iPhone these days--monthly fees aside--probably helps. There's no guarantee that iPhone sales maintain their torrid pace as the way this economy is going, but last quarter, at least, people who might be struggling found the money for iPhones.
Tom Krazit writes about the ever-expanding world of Internet search, including Google, Yahoo, online advertising, and portals, as well as the evolution of mobile computing. He has written about traditional PC companies, chip manufacturers, and mobile computers, spending the last three years covering Apple. E-mail Tom. 
To the people above:
They said lower income, not low income. Lower implies that it's lower than a set point.
Personally I appreciate that I can talk with a client wherever I am, take bookings and expect the calendar info to sync with my desktop, immediately email staff to alert them of the new job, write extensive notes about the call, then email those notes to staff and generally conduct office activities while walking to an appointment. No other phone, up to this point has been able to easily do these things so well, and no netbook has been portable enough...
In a short time the iPhone has become a productivity device for my business and as such actually earns money for me to a far greater extent than my previous smart phone.
You should definitely buy the biggest gas guzzling SUV you can find.
A $200 dollar item for most people is something that THEY DO NOT NEED. If you really need a cell phone buy a go phone and only pay for the minutes you use. If you really need an MP3 player buy a cheap 30 to 40 dollar one yeah it may not hold a lot of songs but guess what you can swap them out. Just keep on buying WHAT YOU WANT if my credit card limit is 10,000 bucks that means I can max it out and its ok right?
- by ferretboy88 November 3, 2008 1:41 PM PST
- What a rude article. I am not voting for Obama and I don't use an iphone. I made $215,000 last year. I do love hockey but not sixpacks thank you very much.
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