Apple’s iPhone XR was the top-selling smartphone in the U.S. in February

The iPhone XR was Apple’s best-selling smartphone in February, according to Counterpoint Research’s monthly U.S. smartphone churn tracker. The XR was responsible for more than 26% of all iPhone sales during the month, notes the research group.

The majority of XR buyers previously used the iPhone 7 and the 7 Plus. The iPhone XS Max contributed 13% of Apple iPhone sales and was the second-best-selling smartphone in the US during the month. Previous iPhone 7 Plus and 8 Plus users were the majority of the XS Max buyers. 

“iPhone 7 Plus owners upgraded to the XS Max more often as they replaced their two-year-old devices with the newest, most expensive model,” says Jeff Fieldhack, research director at Counterpoint Research. “There were also iPhone 8 Plus users who were most likely upgrading due to their yearly upgrade programs. The iPhone XR also created the most the churn from Android to iOS. The majority of Android switchers to the iPhone XR were previously using the Samsung Galaxy S7. On the other hand, the majority of iOS users who switched to Android were iPhone 7 users. Samsung Note 9 was the most purchased Android device by previous iPhone 7 users.”

In terms of carriers, the iPhone helped Verizon take away share from AT&T. Verizon dominated sales of iPhone XR and XS smartphones in February. More than 28% of XR and 35% of XS device sales came from Verizon while AT&T sold the most XS Max smartphones with a 31% share of total sales.

“For switchers to Verizon, 30% of iPhone XR and 43% of iPhone XS sales were from previous AT&T customers,” says Maurice Klaehne, analyst at Counterpoint Research. “Conversely, at AT&T where the iPhone XS Max was the most purchased phone, an equal number of switchers were coming from T-Mobile and Verizon at 24% of sales each. Overall, Verizon benefited in this exchange.”