In a report last year from CIRP, we learned that most iPhone purchases in the US happen at carriers, not Apple.
[…]
71% of US iPhone sales between September 2022 and 2023 happened at carriers, up from 67%. And that pushed Apple’s share of US iPhone sales down to 21%.
US iPad sales remained the most diverse – and were similar to the last report with Apple taking 30%, Best Buy and Amazon tying at 19% each, and carriers accounting for 15%.
Apple’s continued to dominate US Mac sales. That grew from 39% in the last report to 47%, with Best Buy taking 24% and Amazon in third with 14%.
Some interesting stats. Despite Apple store locations and online presence, the data shows that most US iPhone purchases actually happen at carriers. This surprised me, as I had assumed Apple would be the primary source for its own products.
ldstephens 
No, no, no…you’re surprised, because you’re intelligent: most people buy their smartphones from carriers because they are duped into thinking they’re getting a better deal. They’re making monthly payments on their smartphones, just like their homes, cars, appliances, televisions, sofas, etc., etc…