Survey of Regent Street iPhone 4S Line Reveals Record Crowd and Other Tidbits

regent street iphone 4s survey
UK insurance firm Protect Your Bubble today conducted a survey of the iPhone 4S line at Apple's Regent Street retail store in London, finding a record line of 778 people just as the store opened for sales.

Analysis of the data, comparing against previous Regent St exit polls on the iPhone 4, iPad and iPad 2 launches, shows that the crowd of 778 people for the iPhone 4S comfortably beats the previous record holder of 668 for the original iPhone 4; 662 for the iPad 2; and 451 for the original iPad.

The company has also put together an infographic highlighting a number of pieces of data collected in surveys of the crowd. Among the most interesting results:

- 53% of those in line were there because they missed the pre-order window, while an additional 7% thought the iPhone 4S was only available in-store. A substantial fraction of the crowd was also there primarily for the experience, with 18% saying that simply wanted "to be there" and 11% noting that they were there because they were "die hard Apple fans".

- Nearly half of the crowd was upgrading from the iPhone 4 to the iPhone 4S, while 35% were lining up to purchase their first iPhone.

- The new 8-megapixel camera was cited most frequently (37%) as the "standout feature" of the iPhone 4S, with Siri (34%) registering in a strong second place. But 33% of the crowd viewed Siri as a gimmick rather than a truly useful feature.

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

Apple AI Command Center Concept Mock 3

Apple Expected to Launch This All-New Device Next Year

Wednesday November 27, 2024 1:05 pm PST by
Apple is expected to kick off 2025 by launching an all-new smart home hub, also referred to as a "command center," as early as March. The hub is expected to feature around a six-inch display that can be attached to a tabletop base with a speaker, or mounted on a wall. The device is said to run a new "homeOS" operating system with a customizable widget-focused home screen, and it is expected...
Whatsapp Feature

WhatsApp to Drop Support for These iPhones Starting May 2025

Monday December 2, 2024 2:57 am PST by
WhatsApp is set to end support for iOS versions older than iOS 15.1 from May next year, removing the chat platform's compatibility with several iPhone models in the process. From May 5, 2025, WhatsApp will no longer be compatible with iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus models. Users with those devices won't be able to access the encrypted chat service after the specified date unless they ...
New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18

18 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.2

Wednesday November 27, 2024 5:05 am PST by
Apple is set to release iOS 18.2 in early December, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. There are a handful of new non-AI related feature controls incoming as...
iphone 16 pro models 1

12 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 17

Friday November 29, 2024 5:17 am PST by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we sometimes get rumored feature leaks so far ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different – already we have some idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you plan to skip...
airpods pro 2 gradient

AirPods Pro 3 Expected Next Year: Here's What We Know

Thursday November 28, 2024 3:30 am PST by
Despite being released over two years ago, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 continue to dominate the wireless earbud market. However, with the AirPods Pro 3 expected to launch sometime in 2025, anyone thinking of buying Apple's premium earbuds may be wondering if the next generation is worth holding out for. Apart from their audio and noise-canceling performance, which are generally regarded as...
Flip iPhone Thumb 1

Apple's 2026 Foldable iPhone Could Reinvigorate Stalling Market

Monday December 2, 2024 4:04 pm PST by
The foldable smartphone market has stalled with customer interest in foldables waning, but that could change when Apple debuts a foldable iPhone, according to display analyst Ross Young. In a report on the current foldable smartphone market, Young says that Apple is expected to "enter the foldable market" in the second half of 2026. Apple's "dominant position in flagship smartphones" could...
iPhone 17 Pro Dual Tone Rectangle Feature 1

iPhone 17 Pro Already Rumored to Have These 8 New Features

Wednesday November 27, 2024 12:19 pm PST by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch for 10 more months, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. An imaginative iPhone 17 Pro concept based on rumors Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models so far: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro ...

Top Rated Comments

kalsta Avatar
172 months ago
People need to remember that Siri is still beta software. Of course it's not perfect on launch day, but how could you look at it and not be impressed?!

To anyone who says this is just a gimmick that we'll all forget about in time, all I can say is that you truly lack the vision to see where all this is going. In five years, you're going to wonder how you ever called a phone 'smart' before you could have a conversation with it.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jayducharme Avatar
172 months ago
it's standing as a gimmick is strictly dependent on how useful it is. If it works, no longer a gimmick
Exactly. The mouse was a gimmick when it first appeared. Eventually, it became an indispensable part of working with technology. Siri will be the same.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mal Avatar
172 months ago
Exactly. The mouse was a gimmick when it first appeared. Eventually, it became an indispensable part of working with technology. Siri will be the same.

Yep. Remember that it was Apple who took the mouse from gimmick to indispensable too, even though they didn't invent it.

Theres a slight difference here.

The mouse was brand new technology at the time, never before seen.

Concepts for Siri style devices were demoed by apple in 1987. There are thousands of voice controllable AI products out there...its not new....its just new to phones (even then not really since similar products have been on Android for a while).

Give it a year and Siri will be forgotten. Give it a month and you'll no longer be using it.

I'm not going to be that pessimistic. You could be right, but Siri is so much better than the Android and other voice solutions, and on a device with so many potential uses (especially if it becomes extensible so that other developers can add their own hooks to it), I suspect that we'll eventually wonder what we did with phone before voice control. Granted, there are many situations in which voice control is not beneficial, but for many situations, it will be very useful. Hands-free operation while driving a vehicle just got much safer, for instance.

jW
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
subsonix Avatar
172 months ago
100% of the participants in the poll had never used it, since it took place in the queue outside. So the 33% figure is a measure of expectation, nothing else. The most facsinating thing about it to me is the calendar scheduling and the geo-fence feature and the fact that it learns from behaviour and remember things about you and your contacts, sort of like a personal secretary.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bryanl Avatar
172 months ago
Before the concept of pre-order, I could totally understand the lines. Now I'm just baffled.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
azzarocks86 Avatar
172 months ago
Please check statistics before re-publishing them

Thought the statistics for Mac owners, PC owners and "both" owners seemed a bit odd and after 5 seconds of thought and some kindergarten math I realized why...
39% I own a Mac
34% I own a PC
12% I own both

This leaves 15% of people lining up on launch day apparently not owning a computer? I know apple are pushing to make iOS devices a replacement for a desktop or laptop but I hardly think this change has happened in the year between the release of the iPhone 4 and the 4S, certainly not amongst the consumers who are willing to line up on launch day.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)