• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, September 27, 2019

Under the current reign of Tim Cook, critics say Apple has lost its ability to stir high-pitched fanaticism among consumers. True or not, the company that Steve Jobs built can still create some excitement around the launch of a new iPhone.

That’s according to a just-released report from Simpli.fi, which used its geo-fencing technology to see how shoppers responded to the release of the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro earlier this month.

Comparing the latest phones’ release date to the day before, Simpli.fi found foot traffic varied significantly by market.

For example, while Apple stores in Pasadena, California, and Miami saw increases in foot-traffic of 79.52% and 60.09%, respectively, stores in Chicago and Scottsdale, Arizona, only saw increases of 30.17% and 22.48%, respectively.

Across national markets, however, a majority of shoppers still seem to prefer the excitement of launch days.

Indeed, every one of the 30 Apple stores and carrier stores tracked by Simpli.fi reported higher foot traffic on the phones’ release day compared to the following day.

Although Apples stores continue to attract the majority of early adopters on iPhone release days, local carrier stores still enjoy something of a halo effect.

Upon the release of the latest iPhones, for example, Pasadena’s AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint locations all saw increases of  6.29%, 19.19% and 27.27%, respectively.

The most popular carriers also seem to vary by market, Simpli.fi found.

When shopping early for new iPhones, West Coast consumers appear to prefer AT&T stores, while Central Region shoppers appear to prefer T-Mobile stores.

As for the East Coast, Simpli.fi found mixed results among those consumers who preferred to purchase their latest iPhone from a local carrier store.