Over the past few years, Apple’s iPhone lineup has consistently accounted for the majority of profits across the smartphone industry. Still, there’s no denying that Apple’s share of the smartphone market pales in comparison to Android. In light of this, Apple in recent years has made a concerted effort to lure away loyal Android users. Just a few months ago, for instance, Apple began rolling out a series of ads designed to highlight the benefits of the iPhone and the iOS ecosystem relative to Android.
While it’s hard to gauge how successful Apple’s marketing efforts have been in this regard, there is evidence that more affordable iPhone models are in fact prompting some Android users to jump ship. To wit, a Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) report from this past June relayed that many Android to iPhone switchers were motivated by more affordable models, with the iPhone SE being an attractive lure.
Unfortunately, Apple axed the iPhone SE when it rolled out its 2018 iPhone lineup. And though there have been rumblings that an iPhone SE 2 is in the works, the most affordable iPhone model no longer exists (and the iPhone XR is still over $700). This of course begs the question: Will we see a notable drop-off in the overall number of Android switchers in the weeks and months ahead? Surprisingly, the answer appears to be a resounding no.
The following chart was tweeted out by Horace Dediu this week and shows that many Android users are keen on having their next device be an iPhone. Most notably, 19% of current Samsung owners and 20% of current Motorola owners are planning to buy an iPhone when it comes time to upgrade. Notably, users with a Google smartphone are the least likely to make the jump over to Apple. Also interesting is that Motorola owners tend to have the lowest brand loyalty across all manufacturers.
All told, a tad more than 18% of all current non-Apple smartphone owners are planning to have their next device be an iPhone. That percentage jumps even higher if you take die-hard Google owners out of the equation. As a point of interest, the data above was compiled from surveys sent out to approximately 32,500 smartphone owners.
