Who’s buying the iPhone 5?

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There’s no question that people are buying the iPhone 5 in huge, even record-breaking numbers, but it’s less clear who the customers lining up for the device are, exactly. Are they iPhone 4 users? 4S users? Android or BlackBerry users switching to Apple? Surrounding the phone’s September 21 release, some formal and informal surveys of the people lining up looked to answer the question.

A Topeka Capital Markets survey of 100 launch-day purchasers predicted that people upgrading from the iPhone 4S would be limited compared to those upgrading from older models or other platforms because 4S users were likely to already be locked in a two-year contract. However, the survey confounded expectations and found that 50 percent of buyers were upgrading from a 4S, versus 36 percent switching to iPhone for the first time and 14 percent upgrading from an iPhone 4 or 3GS.

TechCrunch interviewed customers in line in Toronto to find what attracted them to the phone. One person waiting, Anuj Khanna, was switching from a BlackBerry because he liked the look of the iPhone. Another, Jon Stowe, was an Apple loyalist.

“I buy every one,” he told TechCrunch. “It’s my drug.”

With iPhone repair from iResQ, older iPhone models can be kept in good shape even in the event of accidents, so people who aren’t ready to upgrade yet can hold on to their current models.

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