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TechApple

Apple’s Fight With the FBI Isn’t Keeping People From Wanting an iPhone

By
Kia Kokalitcheva
Kia Kokalitcheva
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By
Kia Kokalitcheva
Kia Kokalitcheva
Down Arrow Button Icon
March 22, 2016, 2:46 PM ET
US-JUSTICE-APPLE-IPHONE
The Apple logo is seen reflected on the glass of its store on Fifth Avenue in New York on February 23, 2016. Apple is battling the US government over unlocking devices in at least 10 cases in addition to its high-profile dispute involving the iPhone of one of the San Bernardino attackers, court documents show. Apple has been locked in a legal and public relations battle with the US government in the California case, where the FBI is seeking technical assistance in hacking the iPhone of Syed Farook, a US citizen, who with his Pakistani wife Tashfeen Malik in December gunned down 14 people. / AFP / Jewel Samad (Photo credit should read JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images)Photograph by Jewel Samad—AFP via Getty Images

Apple has been fighting with the FBI over hacking into an iPhone belonging to one of the San Bernardino shooters for weeks, but none of this has much bearing on whether consumers will purchase a new iPhone, according to a recent poll.

Over the weekend between March 18 and 21, Fortune polling partner Morning Consult surveyed 2001 U.S. residents. Results found that more than half of them (51%) replied the current Apple (AAPL) vs. FBI scuffle has no effect over whether or not they will spring for a new iPhone. Additionally, 19% of them said they’re now more likely to purchase a new one.

Looks like Apple’s “brand marketing strategy,” as the U.S. Justice Department described the tech giant’s refusal to hack the phone, is working. (For a refresher on the big brawl, check out Fortune‘s coverage.)

For more about Apple vs. FBI, watch:

That said, the same poll’s respondents were asked if they plan to purchase Apple’s upcoming iPhone SE (it was only rumored at the time), but 74% said no.

Of course, because the phone hadn’t been revealed until yesterday, the responses aren’t truly indicative of consumer sentiment now that the world has seen the phone.

The iPhone SE, which will go on pre-sale this Thursday and hit the stores on March 31, is an upgraded version of Apple’s iPhone 5S—all the smallness of a 4-inch display, with the powerful inners of the newer phones.

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By Kia Kokalitcheva
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