iPhone 4S drove many of us to cancel contracts

Jason Reed / Reuters file

Women seem to prefer the white iPhone to the black model, according to new research.

By Suzanne Choney

How badly did many of us want the new iPhone 4S? Badly enough to break our contracts with wireless carriers and pay an early termination fee to get the phone, according to some new research.

Consumer Intelligence Research Partners surveyed 4S buyers between Oct. 31 and Nov. 10 and found that "45 percent said they had broken a contract with their current or previous carrier to buy or upgrade to the device. Of those, more than 70 percent paid an early termination fee greater than $100 to do so," according to AllThingsD.

AT&T, Verizon and Sprint charge a maximum early termination fee of $350.

From an initial response of 4,632 people, the research firm said it surveyed 504 "qualified subjects" for its analysis about iPhone 4S buyers. Among its other findings:

• A "surprising 30 percent of iPhone 4S buyers upgraded from the iPhone 4, which is just over a year old."
• Women seem to favor the iPhone in white (vs. black).
• Many of us chose to buy the phone online, rather than standing inline. Says CIRP: "43 percent of the customers bought their new phones online, at the Apple website, the carrier websites, or other retailer websites such as Best Buy Online. Only 25 percent of iPhones were sold through Apple owned channels — the approximately 245 Apple Stores and the Apple website — and 75 percent sold through the carrier stores and websites, and multi-line retailers such as Best Buy. "