Apple iPhone 6 Release: Survey Shows More US Consumers Willing To Buy New iPhone

Although the widely expected release of Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone 6 is nearly a month away, an increasing number of consumers are willing to buy the upcoming iPhone version without even having seen it, according to a recent poll of U.S. consumers.

According to the survey, conducted among 1,000 U.S. residents in July by R.W. Baird, a financial services firm, 6.8 percent of the respondents, up from 4.4 percent in February, indicated that they plan to buy the iPhone 6 unseen. More people were found to be waiting to buy the iPhone 6 than there were for the iPhone 5s when it was launched last September.

“Although we expect a strong purchase cycle for the iPhone 6, we acknowledge that relatively small variations in our surveys could fall within the normal margin of error, but nevertheless view the early interest positively,” William Power of R.W. Baird said in a statement, obtained by Barron’s. “We suspect the interest could rise higher following the device unveiling in September.”

The people most eager to buy the iPhone 6 (34.4 percent) were those who already own some model of the iPhone, according to the survey.

“Additionally, users with newer iPhones are the most likely to upgrade. This segment likely contains the largest population of Apple aficionados, who are willing to pay a premium every one to two years for the newest device,” Power said.

Meanwhile, Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray, said in a new report that Apple’s margins are expected to see a quarter-on-quarter decline in the fourth quarter of 2014 because of the redesigned iPhone 6, which could negatively affect the company’s margins at launch. However, Munster also said that margins would begin to improve by early 2015, Apple Insider reported.

A report last week by Re/Code suggested that the iPhone 6 would be unveiled at an Apple event in California on Sept. 9, and the phone will be available in two versions, featuring bigger displays of 4.7 inches and 5.5 inches, and a faster A8 processor.

Other likely features of the iPhone 6 include a thinner design, Near Field Communication technology, more secure Touch ID Fingerprint scanner, iOS 8 and a stronger 2,100mAh battery.