Consumers aren’t just going directly to Apple stores for the latest iPhone. More customers are turning to T-Mobile and other wireless competitors, buying online, or delaying a device upgrade.
At pass_by, we offer the highest in market accuracy with 94% correlation to ground truth, over 15 data inputs, and a full 90 days of predictive feeds. Book a call.
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Wireless store trends
Apple retail store visits were down -10.39% year on year during the week of the iPhone 17 release, but visits to wireless stores were up 4.8% for the same period.
This wireless performance is even more pronounced in non-mall locations.
| All wireless | Apple | |
| Mall | +4.1% | -10.55% |
| Non mall | +5.62% | -9.62% |
| Combined | +4.8% | -10.4% |
When a wireless store is in a mall, our data models notice the store grows 5x faster when there isn’t an Apple store in the mall. Wireless stores can compete and directly benefit from major smartphone releases by focusing on their own value proposition, particularly in non-mall locations which can be more convienent for many consumers.
At pass_by, we offer the highest in market accuracy with 94% correlation to ground truth, over 15 data inputs, and a full 90 days of predictive feeds. Book a call.
iPhone 17 release
On Friday, September 19, 2025, the iPhone 17 was available in-store, with Apple prices starting from $799 for the standard device to $1,099 for the iPhone 17 Pro.
- Visits to Apple stores were up compared to the previous Friday, but fell short compared to previous releases in terms of in-store visits.
- Visits to T-mobile stores were +27.62% on the release day of the iPhone 17 compared to the previous Friday, but -1.97% lower than the release date of the iPhone 16.
- On release day of the iPhone 17, AT&T saw stable foot traffic compared to Apple’s previous release with an increase of +1.15% year on year.
How and why Apple stores surge during iPhone releases
Visits to Apple stores on release day were +47.73% higher than the previous Friday.
However, visits on the 19th of September were -20.59% lower than visits on the 20th of September in 2024 when the iPhone 16 was available in-store.
Visits at the time of the iPhone 17 release were also -25.49% lower than visits on the 22nd of September 2023, when the iPhone 15 released in store.
So, while Apple did see increased interest on the release date of the iPhone 17, the release didn’t have the same impact on Apple stores in terms of visits compared to previous releases. This could be down to many reasons: more preorders and deliveries, fewer customers upgrading their phones to the latest model, customers turning to other phone stores to buy the latest release, waiting until another day to buy the release to avoid any crowds.
At pass_by, we offer the highest in market accuracy with 94% correlation to ground truth, over 15 data inputs, and a full 90 days of predictive feeds. Book a call.
The rise of T-mobile
Compared to the previous Friday, visits to T-Mobile stores were +27.62% on the release day of the iPhone 17.
However, visits on the 19th of September were -1.97% lower than visits on the 20th of September in 2024 when the iPhone 16 was available in-store. This could suggest fewer consumers are going in-store and instead choosing to pre-order, or simply avoiding any crowds on release day.
All other days of release week saw a positive year-on-year performance compared to the release of the iPhone 16. The following Saturday, September 26th, saw an increase of 9.05% year-on-year, showcasing the success of T-mobile and consumer’s shifting behavior.
Visits at the time of the iPhone 17 release were +0.61% higher than visits on the 22nd of September 2023, when the iPhone 15 released in store.
Verizon Wireless stays competitive
Many wireless stores see an uptick of foot traffic during release days of smartphones and Verizon is no exception. In fact, it saw one of the highest growth rates during release day.
On release day of the iPhone 17, Verizon wireless stores saw an uptick of +47.73% in foot traffic compared to the previous Friday.
During release week, the strongest days for traffic year on year were the release day itself and the following Tuesday where traffic grew by 2% y-o-y, while other days didn’t quite compete with the previous year’s performance.
Compared to previous releases, the iPhone 17 had a greater impact on Verizon. Visits were up by 3.29% compared to 20th September 2024, during the release date of the iPhone 16. Visits were comporable to the release day of the iPhone 15 in 2023 with only a negibile decrease of -0.28% in visits.
The rise of AT&T
On release day of the iPhone 17, AT&T saw stable foot traffic compared to Apple’s previous release with an increase of +1.15% year on year. The days following, however, saw growth of over 6% every single day. Release day being the busiest for traffic overall, closely followed by September 20th.
This growth was seen in mall and non-mall locations with an overall increase in traffic of 8.73% during release week compared to the previous year. Non-mall locations (+9.67%) did see higher growth compared to mall locations (7.92%).
AT&T has seen solid growth with the release of the iPhone 17 compared to the iPhone 16 release. This is still a large decrease from the iPhone 15 in 2023. Visits during the week of the iPhone 17 release were -11.44% compared to the release of the iPhone 15, but AT&T has been able to bring back many customers for Apple’s latest release during a highly competitive period.
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The hype of smartphone releases
Searches on Google for the iPhone 17 surged on September 8th 2025 as consumers heard Apple’s PR announcements and awaited the product only a week away. Interest again surged the day after release as reactions, reviews, and unboxings, poured in across social media.
In our data, we’ve seen this online hype reflected in in-store traffic. Release day in particular resulted in high traffic compared to the previous year and increased visits days afterwards. Consumers do seem to be broadening out in terms of which wireless store they go to and where with both non-mall and mall locations seeing this impact, and Apple’s competitors seeing the benefit the most.
Wireless stores FAQs
Do wireless stores see more customers during new smartphone launches?
Yes, wireless stores see an uptick in visits during new smartphone launches. On release day of the iPhone 17, Verizon wireless stores saw an uptick of +47.73% in foot traffic compared to the previous Friday. Smartphone releases have a large impact on mall and non-mall wireless stores.
Why do people flock to stores during new phone releases?
People flock to stores during new phone releases to be the first ones to get the new device, upgrade their older phone, take part in the hype of release days, and avoid any delivery issues.
