iOS installed base at 187M, now selling over 25M per quarter

[famousringo]

Vetteman94 said:

famousringo said:

The same is easily said of game consoles or any other consumer electronics. I myself have a broken Wii and a broken DS Lite that I've bought replacements for. The 3DS is the only console currently on sale which didn't go on the market before the iPhone launched, and these consoles are all more likely to have hardware failures because they have more moving parts than an iDevice. Furthermore, upgraded devices (including those old consoles from 2006) tend to get resold to new users, and even first generation iDevices still have value in used and refurbished markets.

Trying to parse which platforms have more devices in landfills and sock drawers is a near impossible thing to measure. It's easiest to just take for granted that moving more units means the platform is healthier.

Well for one I wasnt talking about failure that need replacement,  every electronic device has this. I was refering to people upgrading to the new models.  I wouldnt say the same could be said for game consoles,  with each new iPhone more and more features are being added not to mention quality of the service they provide increase as well. That cant be said for game consoles,  the opposite for the PS3, sorry for the dig just proving a point.   The basic feature of the game consoles never change, and old models can be updated via firmware to do what the new models do.  The same cant be said for iPhones or any phone for that matter.   

Plus I just read an article that states that 77% of iPhone 4 buyers from the launch were upgrade buyers from previous iPhone models.  Now I am sure that number has come down but I would bet its still a significant number

http://www.maclife.com/article/news/upgrades_make_largest_percentage_iphone_4_buyers

I dont think you can say the same for the console revisions that have been made.  

There's no denying that a significant number of users upgrade every year, but you can't simply subtract upgraders from the installed base. The devices that these people upgrade from get traded in and resold through refurb outfits, put up on ebay, or just handed down to a friend or family member. The point is that they still get used, and their new owners may very well keep buying new software and other content, and even turn into upgraders themselves down the line.

You paint it as a negative, but loyal upgraders may actually be helping to drive the expansion of the installed base by providing a steady supply of discounted and inherited iDevices.