Study finds 20% of Apple iPhone users switched away from Android in past year
Not only does Apple's bestselling iPhone engender strong loyalty among those who buy it, but a new study says that the device attracts buyers from rival platforms faster than it loses to them.
Both Apple and Samsung ? the two leading companies in terms of smartphone sales and profits ? enjoy strong brand loyalty from consumers, according to a new report from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners. Apple, though, has been particularly successful in luring users away from the Android mobile operating system to its own iOS platform.
Fully 20 percent of iPhone buyers between July 2012 and June 2013 had previously owned an Android-powered device, according to CIRP. Twenty-six percent of iPhone buyers were updating to Apple's phone from a basic or feature phone, while 43 percent had already owned an Apple phone and were upgrading.
On the other end, though, only seven percent of Samsung phone buyers were switching from Apple devices. Samsung, by far the largest player in the Android smartphone market, drew 39 percent of its buyers over the year from basic upgraders.
Looking only at customers who had switched brands, fully one third of Apple's new customers had previously owned Samsung devices. Only 11 percent of Samsung's customers came from Apple.
Instead of drawing from its chief rival, Samsung appears to be pulling in customers from other manufacturers, including its fellow Android handset makers. HTC and Motorola in particular suffered from Samsung's growing sway in the smartphone segment. Finnish smartphone maker Nokia ? which has struggled continually to find a niche in the new mobile market ? also lost share to Samsung.
The study also found that Apple buyers tended to buy their devices at Apple's retail outlets, as opposed to other locations. Apple Stores accounted for nearly one-quarter of total sales for the Cupertino company. While strong, that is still below what Apple CEO Tim Cook has previously stated as a goal for in-store iPhone sales.
Samsung buyers, meanwhile, tend to get their devices from mass merchants and warehouse clubs such as Walmart, Target, and Costco. Best Buy provides similar sales levels for both manufacturers, but Samsung also sees stronger sales from online outlets than Apple does.
The study also found that buyers of Apple devices tended to have higher overall incomes than Samsung buyers. More than 60 percent of Apple buyers had incomes between $50,000 and $150,000 per year, compared to roughly 50 percent in the same range for Samsung.
Both Apple and Samsung ? the two leading companies in terms of smartphone sales and profits ? enjoy strong brand loyalty from consumers, according to a new report from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners. Apple, though, has been particularly successful in luring users away from the Android mobile operating system to its own iOS platform.
Fully 20 percent of iPhone buyers between July 2012 and June 2013 had previously owned an Android-powered device, according to CIRP. Twenty-six percent of iPhone buyers were updating to Apple's phone from a basic or feature phone, while 43 percent had already owned an Apple phone and were upgrading.
On the other end, though, only seven percent of Samsung phone buyers were switching from Apple devices. Samsung, by far the largest player in the Android smartphone market, drew 39 percent of its buyers over the year from basic upgraders.
Looking only at customers who had switched brands, fully one third of Apple's new customers had previously owned Samsung devices. Only 11 percent of Samsung's customers came from Apple.
Instead of drawing from its chief rival, Samsung appears to be pulling in customers from other manufacturers, including its fellow Android handset makers. HTC and Motorola in particular suffered from Samsung's growing sway in the smartphone segment. Finnish smartphone maker Nokia ? which has struggled continually to find a niche in the new mobile market ? also lost share to Samsung.
The study also found that Apple buyers tended to buy their devices at Apple's retail outlets, as opposed to other locations. Apple Stores accounted for nearly one-quarter of total sales for the Cupertino company. While strong, that is still below what Apple CEO Tim Cook has previously stated as a goal for in-store iPhone sales.
Samsung buyers, meanwhile, tend to get their devices from mass merchants and warehouse clubs such as Walmart, Target, and Costco. Best Buy provides similar sales levels for both manufacturers, but Samsung also sees stronger sales from online outlets than Apple does.
The study also found that buyers of Apple devices tended to have higher overall incomes than Samsung buyers. More than 60 percent of Apple buyers had incomes between $50,000 and $150,000 per year, compared to roughly 50 percent in the same range for Samsung.
Comments
Quote:
Originally Posted by gelbin
Doesn't the conclusion that apple gains more from android than it loses to samsung ignore the actual market numbers? Maybe samsung only has 7% of buyers switching from iPhone, but if it has 3X as many buyers as the iPhone does, then its 7% is greater than the iphone's 20% coming from android.
Read it again:
Quote:
Looking only at customers who had switched brands, fully one third of Apple's new customers had previously owned Samsung devices. Only 11 percent of Samsung's customers came from Apple.
Apple gains more from Samsung than Samsung gains from Apple. This is the US market, so Apple and Samsung have approximately equal market share in smart phones here, so the overall numbers are comparable.
I know many people that dabbled into Android only to come running back to iPhone. A big reason with the teens is FaceTime. When most of your friends have an iPhone and use FaceTime, it's a big factor when it's time to get a phone.
"It is unfortunate that patent law can be manipulated to give one company a monopoly"
Taking that quote out of context means that just one company has a monopoly on the Android profits by abusing patent law and all they're doing is really making the same device over and over. Big deal, they stretched the S3 and now we have the S4. It's like people just buy these things because of the logo. Ohhh worship the blue oval and the little green robot. Overpriced rubbish is what they're buying. Don't they know it's all just plastic?
Quote:
Originally Posted by gelbin
Doesn't the conclusion that apple gains more from android than it loses to samsung ignore the actual market numbers? Maybe samsung only has 7% of buyers switching from iPhone, but if it has 3X as many buyers as the iPhone does, then its 7% is greater than the iphone's 20% coming from android.
Uh… yeah.
But Samsung doesn't remotely have 3X as many SMARTPHONE buyers as Apple. There are no such multiples in play. So therefore, the premise stands.
The only people surprised by this piece of data must be the trolls on this forum.
Quote:
Originally Posted by fechhelm
Apple is the only phone that runs iOS, Samsung is one of very many that runs android. These charts seem kind of pointless.
Why? They are just showing between Samsung and Apple what types of buyers are switching to or away from one brand to another. Or their income levels.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marvin
This is understandable, Android has gotten pretty stale in the last 12 months.
ROFL...stale? If Android is stale, what is the iPhone? Mummified?
-kpluck
I hate it when people use percentages this way.
So how many total buyers is 60% of Apple buyers? Then how many total buyers is 50% of Samsung buyers?
Also, as at least one other has mentioned, Samsung is only a portion of the Android market. I wonder how many total people (not percentages) in the $50,000 to $150,000 income bracket buy Android phones of any manufacturer. This would be much more useful information.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dick Applebaum
Mmm... Does Google count de-activations?
They don't even know what that means.
Quote:
Originally Posted by anantksundaram
The only people surprised by this piece of data must be the trolls on this forum.
Still in denial.
This is understandable, Android has gotten pretty stale in the last 12 months. I'd buy one if only they'd make flagship devices that can be used comfortably with one hand. Don't they know that most human beings have human being sized hands? Everyone I know and have spoken to have human being sized hands. They used to all have Android phones but since manufacturers started pushing bigger and bigger phones, they just decided it wasn't for them any more. Plus the companies behind these devices have just started litigating and not really innovating. As JK Shin said:
"It is unfortunate that patent law can be manipulated to give one company a monopoly"
Taking that quote out of context means that just one company has a monopoly on the Android profits by abusing patent law and all they're doing is really making the same device over and over. Big deal, they stretched the S3 and now we have the S4. It's like people just buy these things because of the logo. Ohhh worship the blue oval and the little green robot. Overpriced rubbish is what they're buying. Don't they know it's all just plastic?
why does that sound so familiar