Apple users have the reputation for being blindly loyal but a surprising number of them have crossed over to “the dark side” by buying an Android phone. According to a new survey of more than 3,800 people from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, roughly 35% of iPad owners and 28% of Mac owners have an Android smartphone. Even though a clear majority of iPad and Mac owners do own an iPhone, it’s still somewhat surprising to see such a big chunk of users using both iOS and Android, especially given all of the comically whiny essays we’re read from Apple diehards who couldn’t even stand to use Android for a day.
To CIRP, this suggests that Apple has even more room to grow because it may be able to sell these users on the iPhone and make them the kind of loyal customers who buy nothing but Apple. The features that Apple unveiled with both OS X Yosemite and iOS8 on Monday could help them achieve this, especially the new continuity feature that will let you make phone calls from your MacBook if your iPhone is nearby and will let you keep using apps across different platforms and form factors. A Mac user who wants the ability to make a call from their laptop just by clicking on a phone number in Safari, for instance, will need to buy an iPhone to make it happen.
Either way, CIRP’s research suggests that there are plenty of Apple users out there who aren’t yet full-on converts, which gives Apple a major opportunity to draw more people into its ecosystem.
