June Smartphone Survey Shows Apple's iPhone 7 Might Perform Like iPhone 6

A June smartphone survey revealed that smartphone buying interest among North American consumers is at the lowest levels since 2008.

UBS’ Steven Milunovich maintains a Buy rating on Apple Inc. AAPL, with a price target of $115.

Survey Results

The June smartphone survey was conducted by 451 Research on 4,168 North American consumers and showed that while Samsung (SAMSUNG ELECTRONIC KRW5000 SSNLF) had gained momentum, Apple held steady.

iPhone 7 Interest Same As iPhone 6s

UBS China’s channel checks also revealed a further slowdown in handset sales in the June quarter, along with relatively weak G subscriber additions.

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Milunovich mentioned that “451 Research asked how likely consumers are to buy the iPhone 7. Responses showed interest levels similar to the iPhone 6s.”

The analyst noted that only 8 percent were “very likely” and 17 percent were “somewhat likely” to buy the iPhone 7.

This was similar to the survey held in June 2015, where 8 percent had said they were “very likely,” and 16 percent said that they were “somewhat likely” to buy the iPhone 6s.

According to the UBS, “These results are similar to our UBS Evidence Lab Global Smartphone Survey, which indicated that interest in the iPhone 7 would be slightly better than the iPhone 6s but less than the iPhone 6.”

However, Milunovich also pointed out that phone interest could be impacted by the changing payment plans in the United States in 2017.

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