Apple is very much so known for its retail stores. They are a famous for their unique design, and their ever-happy employees. When you think of Apple, you probably have some image of its stores. So with this, and with the growing numbers of annual visitors, you’d expect the majority of iPhones to be sold here, correct? If you said correct, unfortunately you are wrong. According to a study conducted by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP), a mere 21% of iPhones are sold at Apple Stores.

While at first I was quite surprised by this statistic, I then took the time to reason out why. Think about the last time you purchased a cell phone, which possibly was an iPhone. When I do so, I go to my local Verizon store, not an Apple Store. This is the reasoning that I came up with. When someone goes to get a new phone, they go to their carrier’s respective store, and not Apple’s directly. This theory is supported by the rest of the numbers; 28% of iPhones were sold at AT&T, while 26% were sold at Verizon. That makes over 50% of iPhones sold at AT&T and Verizon alone. Co-founder of CIRP, Josh Lowitz, made this point to AllThingsD:

You can’t sell 40 million plus iPhones in a year through just 250 stores. 

That is very true. You have to remember, Apple Stores aren’t everywhere. Who fills in the blanks where Apple is absent? The carriers.

What do you think? Surprised at these numbers? Where did you buy your iPhone? Let us know in the comments.

Via: iDownloadBlog, AllThingsD, CIRP