Best Buy Sells Nearly As Many iPhones As Apple

In April 2008 Apple decided to partner with Best Buy to sell the iPhone, and according to data released by the Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, it seems as though Apple made a very smart decision. The data revealed that Best Buy sells nearly as many iPhones as Apple does itself.

Consumer Intelligence Research Partners surveyed iPhone buyers from December 2011 to February 2012. The firm asked consumers where they had purchased their iPhone, and the results showed that 15 percent of consumers bought their iPhones directly from Apple and 13 percent bought theirs from Best Buy. There is only a two percent difference between the sales at Apple and the sales at Best Buy.

The other 69 percent of sales belong to mobile carriers AT&T, Verizon and Sprint. AT&T sold 32 percent, Verizon sold 30 percent and Sprint only sold 7 percent. However, according to the research, Apple and Best Buy both sold more new models than any of the mobile carriers.

"Apple and Best Buy sold more high-end phones, with the iPhone 4S accounting for 87 percent and 82 percent of total iPhone sales, respectively, for those two outlets," Consumer Intelligence Research Partners wrote in its report. "In contrast, carriers sold relatively more lower-end phones, with iPhone 4S accounting for 57 percent to 66 percent of total iPhone sales at AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint."

“Apple Stores and the Apple Website are tremendously productive, but they are limited by their relatively small retail footprint,” said CIRP analyst Josh Lowitz. “There are four times as many Best Buy stores, and probably 20 times as many AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint stores, so aggressive distribution through all these channels is critical to Apple’s U.S. strategy.”

The survey also looked at more than just where consumers were buying their iPhones. The research showed that people prefer to buy their iPhone in the store instead of online. Seventy-six percent of iPhone sales were from retail stores, leaving only 24 percent to online sales. Those numbers did spike a bit when the iPhone 4S was first released however. Retails stores grabbed 67 percent, while online had 33 percent.

Sources: TechnoBuffalo - Best Buy Sells Almost As Many iPhones as Apple Does and PCMag - Best Buy Sells Nearly As Many iPhones as Apple

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The "Facebook Phone" is Hitting Stores Soon

Are you one of those people that are simply addicted to Facebook? If you are, soon you will be able to satisfy your addiction with a phone that won’t drain your pockets. The HTC Status, also known as the Facebook phone, will be available at Best Buy stores and online starting July 17 for $49.99 with a two year contract.

Pre-orders for the HTC Status are already being accepted.

The HTC Status, which is also known as the ChaCha overseas, is a small Android-based smartphone. It features a dedicated Facebook logo button at the very bottom of the keypad that allows users to instantly update their Facebook wall with status, photos and URLs.

The phone also has a 5-megapixel front-facing and rear-facing camera. This can be utilized by users for Facebook’s new Skype-enabled video chatting. You will need a Wi-Fi connection to use the video chatting, but I wouldn’t think that this should be too much of an issue for most people.

The integration of aspects of Facebook can be found throughout the entirety of the phone. When a friend calls you, you will automatically see their most recent status update, all Facebook chat and e-mail messages will be pushed together with your regular text messages and emails, and the interface itself features a Facebook chat widget that allows users to see who is online at the time.

AT&T claims that the HTC Status is the first of the HTC devices carried in the U.S. to come standard with an enhanced version of HTC Sense UI. Sasha Segan, a mobile analyst at PCMag, says the enhanced version is among one of the more “thoughtful of the manufacturer Android software extensions.”

The Status will come in four different colors: black, silver, pink and blue. Best Buy will also be offering an exclusive mauve version of the device.

Although this is the first Facebook phone to be released in the U.S., there have been plenty of such phones offered overseas. Why is this, you might ask? I honestly do not know. I do know however that this phone is sure to be a success. A very inexpensive smartphone entirely focused around Facebook…how could that not be a hit with teens and young adults? I’m sure that HTC has got a winner here!

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