iPhone 6 and 6 Plus Changing Users' Reading Habits as iPad Usage Declines

Since their September launch, Apple's iPhone 6 and 6 Plus have produced record-setting revenue and sales for Apple, but looking beyond financials, the handset also is radically changing the reading habits of those who own the large-sized devices, according to news-reading service Pocket.

Pocket recently analyzed 2 million article and video opens and examined the reading behavior of readers both before and after the launch of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. In particular, the study compared how iPhone and iPad usage changed after the recent iPhone launch.

PKTBlog_iPhone6_v2
According to the results, customers with an iPhone 5s and an iPad spent an equal amount of time with each device. As users adopted the iPhone 6, however, they spent considerably more time reading on their iPhones than on their iPads, with users choosing their iPhone over the iPad 72 percent of the time.

This trend was even greater among iPhone 6 Plus owners, who grabbed their iPhones 80 percent of the time when they wanted to read. The big screen of the iPhone 6 Plus also increased video watching by 40 percent.

Even before it was announced, analysts expected the larger-screened iPhone 6 and 6 Plus would cannibalize iPad sales, especially for the 7.9-inch iPad mini. Overall, iPad sales are on the decline, dropping as much as 12.7 percent year over year as the tablet market begins to slow.

Related Roundup: iPad
Tag: Pocket
Buyer's Guide: iPad (Don't Buy)
Related Forums: iPad, iPhone

Top Rated Comments

whooleytoo Avatar
123 months ago
There's also an element of "newest, shiniest device" though. When I got my iPhone, I started using that more. Then I bought an iPad Air, which I used for everything. Next week I'm getting a new MacBook Pro, which I'll use more..
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bpeeps Avatar
123 months ago
iPhone 6 + iPad Air is perfect for me.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ThunderSkunk Avatar
123 months ago
I won't be satisfied until I can connect my brain to the net and all the content online is simply an extension of my memory.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
allanfries Avatar
123 months ago
If I had an iPhone 6, (and I would never get anything larger than 4.7" for a phone) I would still reach for my mini for all reading, web based things while at home. My iPad is a coffee table tablet 99% of the time. As I'm home 90% of the time as well, going to my phone instead of my tablet seldom happens.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TMRJIJ Avatar
123 months ago
Lot of ipad 2 users whose iPads have been bricked by ios8 accounting for some of this.

Nope! (Replying from iPad 2 with iOS 8.1.1)
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
HenryCase Avatar
123 months ago
Sadly, books created in Apple's own iBooks Author won't open in iBooks on an iPhone. They still only open on iPads. Was hoping they'd enable this with iOS 8, or on a 6plus...
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iPhone 15 Pro FineWoven

Apple Reportedly Stops Production of FineWoven Accessories

Sunday April 21, 2024 6:03 am PDT by
Apple has stopped production of FineWoven accessories, according to the Apple leaker and prototype collector known as "Kosutami." In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Kosutami explained that Apple has stopped production of FineWoven accessories due to its poor durability. The company may move to another non-leather material for its premium accessories in the future. Kosutami has revealed...
Provenance Emulator

PlayStation and SEGA Emulator for iPhone and Apple TV Coming to App Store [Updated]

Friday April 19, 2024 8:29 am PDT by
The lead developer of the multi-emulator app Provenance has told iMore that his team is working towards releasing the app on the App Store, but he did not provide a timeframe. Provenance is a frontend for many existing emulators, and it would allow iPhone and Apple TV users to emulate games released for a wide variety of classic game consoles, including the original PlayStation, SEGA Genesis,...
iOS 17 All New Features Thumb

iOS 17.5 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Sunday April 21, 2024 3:00 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 17.5 update for the iPhone includes only a few new user-facing features, but hidden code changes reveal some additional possibilities. Below, we have recapped everything new in the iOS 17.5 and iPadOS 17.5 beta so far. Web Distribution Starting with the second beta of iOS 17.5, eligible developers are able to distribute their iOS apps to iPhone users located in the EU...
maxresdefault

Apple Announces 'Let Loose' Event on May 7 Amid Rumors of New iPads

Tuesday April 23, 2024 7:11 am PDT by
Apple has announced it will be holding a special event on Tuesday, May 7 at 7 a.m. Pacific Time (10 a.m. Eastern Time), with a live stream to be available on Apple.com and on YouTube as usual. The event invitation has a tagline of "Let Loose" and shows an artistic render of an Apple Pencil, suggesting that iPads will be a focus of the event. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more ...
apple vision pro orange

Apple Vision Pro Customer Interest Dying Down at Some Retail Stores

Monday April 22, 2024 2:12 am PDT by
Apple Vision Pro, Apple's $3,500 spatial computing device, appears to be following a pattern familiar to the AR/VR headset industry – initial enthusiasm giving way to a significant dip in sustained interest and usage. Since its debut in the U.S. in February 2024, excitement for the Apple Vision Pro has noticeably cooled, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Writing in his latest Power On...