More Than Third Of iPhone 4S Buyers Coming From RIM, Android

More signs pouring in the iPhone benefitted big time during the holidays. In particular, new research finds some 36 percent of consumers buying the iPhone 4S between October and December 2011 were abandoning other platforms, such as Android or the BlackBerry. The findings were doubly good news for Apple, as researchers found 21 percent of iPhone 4S buyers chose the 64GB smartphone model.

The announcement by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners tracked demand for the iPhone 4S, released in October of last year. CIRP’s latest figures indicate an increasing number of consumers were picking the new iPhone over other platforms, with the percent rising over time. The 36 percent of platform switchers was up from the firm’s previous figure of 18 percent.

The number of consumers purchasing the 64GB iPhone 4S model is up from previous estimates. Right after the handset went on sale in October, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster announced 19 percent of people waiting in line to buy the 4S intended to purchase Apple’s highest-capacity iPhone.

The survey also found T-Mobile is losing customers to AT&T, Verizon and Sprint. Sprint became the latest U.S. carrier to support the Apple handset.

CIRP recently announced findings of a survey on ‘second-hand’ iPhones. According to the researchers, Apple’s smartphone led all others, with 49 percent of iPhones either given as gifts or sold. That compared with 21 percent for BlackBerry devices and 15 percent for Android phones.

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