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As well, Apple's own financial data shows that many "normal" people care. They said they had material a drop in iPhone sales because of people anticipating the iPhone 5.

Sure, but why does that happen? Because nerds or the news tell them that something newer is coming out, so they should wait.

Avoiding buyer's remorse is normal consumer behaviour.

People do the exact same every summer/fall for cars when the new model years start trickling out.

This is not entirely true. Even my non-techie friends know of the rumored iPhone 5 announcement coming up and are expecting something great.

No, this is not true. Every single one of my wife's female friends, all non-nerds, and anxiously waiting for the next iPhone as well. They have been tempted by some of the Android phones, but they want to stick with Apple... for now.

A lot of the non-nerds I know don't even care about smartphones or know the difference between Android and iOS other than the fact that they're from different companies.

--edit-- caveat: I'm middle aged and so is my peer group.