Space Gray iPhone 5s Most Popular Amid Supply Constraints, Blue Leads for iPhone 5c

According to new color preference data from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP), Apple's space gray iPhone 5s was the most popular choice for consumers in the United States, followed by the silver and gold models, which is unsurprising given significant supply constraints of the gold and silver iPhones.

43 percent of iPhone 5s units sold were space gray, while 30 percent were silver and 27 percent were gold. Supplies of the space gray model were more readily available than the silver and gold iPhones, but consumers have demonstrated a preference for the black iPhone in the past.

For the iPhone 5c, blue proved to be the most popular choice with 27 percent of purchasers choosing the color, followed closely by white at 25 percent, green at 21 percent, and pink at 20 percent. Apple's yellow iPhone 5c was the least popular color, purchased by only 7 percent of the 400 consumers surveyed in the month after the phones launched.

Broken down by gender, women had a preference for the silver iPhone 5s, while men preferred space gray. Gold was equally split between both genders. Men also had a preference for the white and blue models of the iPhone 5c, while the pink iPhone 5c fared much better with women.

Said CIRP Partner and Co-Founder Mike Levin, "iPhone 5S and 5C colors seem to confirm some traditional gender biases. In the iPhone 5C, men prefer the neutral white, and the Space Gray in the iPhone 5S. In contrast, women prefer lighter silver 5S and the brighter iPhone 5C colors. Interestingly, no one, including the women in the survey, appears to want the Yellow iPhone 5C very much."

Because multiple models of the iPhone 5s have been difficult to obtain, CIRP's data gives an incomplete picture of iPhone 5s preferences. It is possible that consumers desiring a gold iPhone chose another color when supplies ran out or have yet to make a purchase. Data on the iPhone 5c is likely more accurate, as supplies of the phone have been plentiful since launch.