Mobile Carrier Domination (of iPhone Sales) Is Almost Complete

Mobile phone carriers have the edge in selling smartphones in the US. AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and numerous regional carriers have a massive retail footprint, with tens of thousands of physical locations. They also have monthly billing relationships with customers, which makes financing and promoting smartphone purchases easy.

Yet, Apple persists. Their 250 or so US locations and slick e-commerce presence give Apple at least a toehold in selling iPhones directly to consumers.

In the most recent quarter (March 2025), Apple Retail accounted for 15% of iPhone sales in the US, across both retail storefronts and the Apple.com website (Chart 1).