Consumer Affairs has some data on smartphone use and ownership in the United States that’s interesting, and SellCell has some good data on how often people around the world upgrade their phone. While the most common upgrade cycle is 2-3 years (40%), and a similar amount (39%) upgrade in 4 or more year cycles, a full 21% of people upgrade their phone at least once per year. Given an estimated 316 million smartphone owners in the US today, that’s 66 million Americans who buy a new phone every year.
The “nobody does this” rhetoric bugs me too, but wow, 20% is more than I expected.
