Smartphones|The most purchased phone by consumers last year was Apple’s iPhone 13, even though it has a charging connector that is leaving the market. Why is it hoarded?
The summary is made by artificial intelligence and checked by a human.
The EU directive requires a USB-C charging interface in all new phones.
Apple switched to the USB-C connector starting with the iPhone 15 model.
In Finland, iPhone 13 and 14 are still popular, even though they have the old Lightning connector.
Consumers prefer older iPhone models because of their cheaper price.
phones the sales statistics reveal a special detail in Finland: “old” iPhones are still sold a lot, even though their charging connector will soon be a thing of the past.
According to the EU Radio Equipment Directive new phones sold in the Union must have a USB-C charging port.
The American Apple has kept its own Lightning connector in its smartphones. However, Apple tended to harmonize the connectors so that USB-C is used from the iPhone 15 model onwards.
In Finland, the iPhone 13 and 14 models, which are popular with consumers, can no longer be brought to the EU area as new, but stocks can be sold out.
Finns according to recent sales statistics, consumers are not fully enthusiastic about Apple’s connector change.
At DNA and Telia, iPhone 13 was the best-selling consumer phone of the entire year. For Elisa, it was the third most popular.
Why do consumers eagerly buy old iPhone models?
“Consumers are very strongly driven by price. The iPhone 13 has been the cheapest iPhone available for a long time,” answers the head of DNA’s device sales department Jesse Kieksi.
“Apple is also really good at updating old models. Even though the iPhone 13 is already a three-year-old model, it can be assumed that it will be a piece of cake in the future as well.”
DNA sees from its phone networks that iPhone users very rarely change their phones to competing Android phones. The brand is maintained, even though Apple phones are more expensive than the cheaper Android models.
“By comparing the technical performance alone, it is even several hundred or at least more than a hundred euros”, Kieksi assesses the price differences.
“But the choice is also greatly influenced by the camera, battery life and user experience.”
Telia equipment business director Patrick Westerberg reminds us that Android users are also very loyal to the operating system.
According to Westerberg, sales of the iPhone 13 and 14 models have been boosted by fierce price competition and, for example, the fact that they offer more memory compared to previous models.
The 15 model with USB-C connector is also clearly more expensive than the others.
An example of a Lightning connection and cable in an iPhone.
of DNA Kieksi reminds us that many households that prefer Apple products already have Lightning chargers.
Then switching to new connectors is a new hassle, even though they are technically better and faster as connections. According to Kieks, the transition to a single type of connector is still definitely a positive thing.
“After all, it’s really practical that in the future almost all devices, from phones to laptops and headphones, will be charged with a single connector.”
Correction 2.1. at 4:39 p.m.: The caption previously erroneously read that it was an iPhone 7 phone. However, it is about the previous model.