The worldwide launch of Apple’s iPhone 4S saw a record breaking 778 UK consumers queued up outside its flagship Regent Street store in London at 7.57am this morning, according to data collected by the gadget insurance specialist, Protectyourbubble.com.
The fourth generation smartphone, which created queues that snaked around the corner when it went on sale today, surpassed the queues seen for any other Apple product at launch, including the iPhone 4, iPad and iPad 2 when they were released.
The exit poll revealed that the 778 strong crowd beat the 668 customers who waited for its predecessor, the iPhone 4, the 662 for the iPad 2, and 451 for the original iPad.
According to Protectyourbubble.com statistics, the primary reason that many fanatics were queuing was because they had missed the opportunity to pre-order the iPhone. Some 53% admitted to missing the pre-orders, while 18% said they just wanted ‘to be there’. Another 11% claimed that they were ‘die hard apple fans’ and 7% thought it was only available at the Apple store. 11% couldn’t explain why.
Despite over half of consumers (57%) in the queue coming clean over the fact that they were disappointed the new device was not an iPhone 5, many had queued overnight to get their hands on the gadget.
The most dedicated Apple fan was Craig Fox, 30, from Cambridge, who queued outside the Regents Street store for 157 hours and 57 minutes.
The average age for the consumers that queued up was found to be 25, whilst woman made up only 11% of the queue compared to last year’s turnout of 28%.
White was the most popular colour (59%) for fans with three in 10 people going for the 16GB white model. However, the exit poll also showed that if an iPhone did not exist, for 34% would choose a Blackberry as their next smartphone of choice.
The most popular network was Three with 28% of customers opting for the network this time, up from just 4% when the iPhone 4 was released.
Protectyourbubble.com director Stephen Ebbett said: ‘Protect your bubble’s research on the iPhone 4S queue shows that more people than ever are willing to queue around the block for an Apple device, despite half of people being disappointed at the lack of a full iPhone 5 update. In addition, our research showed that more than the national average fail to fully insure their iPhone with 65% saying their new device will not be insured against loss, damage and theft.’
Meanwhile, the new Siri voice-activated Personal Assistant sparked mixed reviews. Whilst 33% branded it a gimmick, another 34% considered it to be iPhone 4S standout feature.
Protectyourbubble also announced today that it will price the iPhone 4S at the same rate as for the iPhone 4 to enable more fans to protect their new iPhone from theft, accidental damage and breakdown. Insurance is available for £5.99 a month (£6.99 a month with protection against loss).
No comments:
Post a Comment