We learned in a December report from CIRP that most iPhone purchases in the US end up happening at carriers. But what about when you consider iPad and Mac, do the numbers change? In a study to answer the question ‘How powerful is the Apple Store?’ the latest CIRP research shows where most people buy iPhone, iPad, and Mac in the US.
CIRP highlights that it can seem like its bustling retail stores are “the mother-ship for Apple purchases” along with the Apple Store app and online purchases. However, as it discovered with its previous survey on iPhone purchases, that’s not the case as only 1/4 of iPhones in the US are sold directly to consumers with the majority – 67% – being sold by carriers.
In its new study, CIRP includes iPad and Mac to see how they compare to Apple’s most popular device.
Interestingly, Apple Stores only sell slightly more of the iPad share compared to iPhone. 29% of Apple’s tablets are sold by the company with the remaining 71% coming from Amazon, Best Buy, and other major retailers like Target and Walmart.
Amazon wasn’t too far behind Apple, selling 23% of iPads in the US by itself with Best Buy moving 16%.
Not surprisingly, Mac is the most sold product directly by Apple. 39% of customers purchases from the company for their Mac, but again, the majority at 61% purchased elsewhere.
With Mac, the ranking flipped for third-party retailers, 26% got their Mac at Best Buy with 12% going to Amazon. The remaining 23% went to another outlet.
In closing, CIRP highlights that while Apple has an impressive retail business of its own, it’s quite reliant on third-party retailers:
“Apple is an amazing manufacturer, and they have built an amazing retail business, but that does not make them independent of their retail partners. Apple not only needs the mobile carriers to provide phone service, they need them to sell iPhones. Apple needs Best Buy to sell Macs and iPads, and dare we say, Apple needs Amazon to sell iPads.”