Sales of accessories for mobile phones in the US reached record numbers following Apple’s launch of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, according to the latest data published today by NPD. Accessory sales topped $249 million in the two weeks following the launch, which NPD notes is “43 percent higher than the two weeks prior.” The report breaks down numbers by accessory category and highlights that screen protector and case manufacturers experienced the biggest increase:
The new iPhones were a big draw for protective accessories. Screen protector revenue increased 120 percent versus the pre-launch period, and cases increased 78 percent in revenue and 63 percent in units. Other accessory categories saw growth, but not near the levels of the protection devices; revenue for mobile power products grew 5 percent, headphones with microphones were up 10 percent, and Bluetooth speakers increased 5 percent.
That tops the $195 million in accessory sales and 17% increase following the iPhone 5s and 5c launch last year.
It’s not all that surprising that case manufacturers saw the biggest increase. Not only is a case a must-have accessory that many buy when purchasing a new device, the new iPhone models, unlike the iPhone 5s, don’t work with previous generation cases. A long list of case manufacturers had products ready for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus at the time of launch. NPD, however, expects accessory sales to continue to increase into the holiday season: “58 percent buy their accessories after they have left the store. In addition, iPhone buyers spend nearly double after they leave the store as they did during their initial purchase.”
The full NPD report is here.
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There’s clearly a direct link between heightened protective case sales and how fragile the phone is. I’m sure that makes up for much of this accessory increase.
More like protecting a overpriced item ,
It is because of #bendagate. I am not paying $850 for a phone that bends in my pocket. Apple products are too overpriced. The only thing I might get from them is a MacBook Air but I might get a windows convertible instead…. Which is better for programming?
Sigh…
well you can always go get an android phone …i hear they’re durable, have amazing quality, inexpensive and are always well worth the investment…
Yeah. It’s remarkable how great Samsung has gotten at making inferior knockoffs. You should DEF grab one!
Ya and loose your bank info in the process , no thanks ! Android os is a hackers wet Dream
WOW – The Trolls are starting already!
No wonder that everybody is buying cases for their iPhone 6’es. The damn thing is so skinny and slippery that it’s nearly impossible to get a proper grip on! And yes, I just got my iPhone 6 the other day. I actually consider returning it for an iPhone 5S for that very reason. It’s just not very comfortable to hold. Too skinny edges.
The Mother of all Upgrades rolls relentlessly on towards the bumper Xmas splurge-fest…
Hold on to your hats!
Those cases make the iPhone 6 look awesome, so why didn’t be sensible and designed the phone from a tough waterproof material like the Galaxy S5 or stylish Sony Xperia Z3? The latter is lovely, and yet not slippery, and better still Sony made the corners rubber to protect the phone against droppage.
Anyone know what that case is on the far right?
Think all of those are cygnett cases
Thanks!
What’s interesting this time around was the fact there was a HUGE variety of protective cases available for (at least) the iPhone 6 model almost from the day of launch–very unusual considering in the past, it would take over a month before the protective case models would reach the retail level after product launch. One wonders after those fiascoes, Apple may have quietly allowed the case manufacturers to get the schematics of the iPhone 6 case design earlier than usual so the protective cases were already in the stores right around the retail launch of the new iPhone models itself.
Well there were the stolen iPhone 6 chassis, probably a few case manufacturers got ahold of them.
I also noticed when looking at case reviews on Amazon that many of the early cases do not fit the iPhones well. A few case makers pulled them from the market and are sending buyers new cases once they make the correct size.