New Study Finds Android Users Are Loyal, Unless There Is a New iPhone Out

New Study Finds That Android Users Are Loyal…Unless There Is a New iPhone Out
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During a recent earnings call Apple CEO, Tim Cook, said that more Android users than ever are switching to the iPhone.

Ericsson, a Swedish communication technology company that used to produce some solid phones in their own right, has just released the results of a study that backs up Cook’s statement. They discovered that Android users are twice as likely to upgrade to a new iPhone in the weeks following a new release.

Switch Pic 3In the report, Ericsson found that throughout the year loyalty to the Android platform is generally higher than loyalty to iOS at a rate of 82% to 73%.

This means that throughout the year when customers upgrade their smartphones 82% of Android users get a new Android phone and 73% of iOS users get a new iPhone.

If that sounds a little shocking, especially since Apple customers are infamously known for being loyal, keep in mind that 80% of the world’s smartphone users are using Android devices with a majority of those being middle to low market users. There are still a vast number of smartphone users who either do not have access to or cannot afford the iPhone’s more premium price tag.

With that being said, Ericsson discovered that every year in September the new iPhone release, “causes significant temporal fluctuations in device switching patterns.” The loyalty rates of iOS users skyrocket to 93% and Android loyalty drops from 82% to 76%. Ericsson found that twice as many Android users switch to new iPhones than before the launch.

For those of us who have used iPhones for years, we remember what originally drew us to Apple’s platform. There are always some nuances for certain people but by in large, Apple’s premium build quality, their painstaking focus on design, the simplicity and aesthetic appeal of iOS, and the general ease of use top the list.

Switch Pic 5When looking at the numbers, it makes sense that Android has a higher general “loyalty” to their platform because many of their users don’t have the choice of an iPhone when upgrading. For many others who do have the option, I would assume that the premium price tag and the hassle of switching platforms keeps more Android users locked into that platform. That’s why the results of Ericsson’s report are so interesting.

Most of us understand the costs of making a jump to another platform. It is a hassle to switch over all of your data and get set up on a new system and maybe the biggest difficulty is letting go of the investment you made in apps and other content most of which will have to be repurchased on the new system.

Switch Pic 1Apple recently released an Android app that makes the process of switching over to Apple’s platform a little less painful, which I’m sure has pushed more than a few Android users off the fence and into Apple’s camp.

Over the years, Apple has been able to create more hype for their products than any other company in the world. Their marketing department, and the agencies they’ve worked with, have done an amazing job promoting their products. But of course what keeps this hype sustained year after year is that Apple’s products live up to it. This report from Ericsson shows that the allure behind new iPhones can be too much for Android users. If you are an Android user who has switched to iOS or if you are a long time iOS user, let us know what drew you to the iPhone in the comments below.

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