In a report published on Tuesday, market research firm CIRP revealed that Apple attracted more Android switchers in the most recent quarter than at any other time in the past year. While over 75% of iPhone buyers were upgrading from the iPhone 5s, iPhone 6 or iPhone 6s (as well as the SE, 5c and Plus models), 20% of consumers surveyed said that they were switching over from an Android device.
“The good news for Apple is that relative to earlier quarters, they attracted a higher percentage of iPhone buyers from Android phones,” said CIRP partner and co-founder Josh Lowitz. “In the past three quarters before the June 2017 quarter, Android owners had represented 14% to 17% of iPhone buyers. With lengthening upgrade cycles and a growing percentage of owners with the most recently released models, continued platform switching will be important to the success of the next iPhones.”
In addition to the increased rate of Android switchers, far more iPhone buyers elected to upgrade to the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus in the quarter ending in June than the previous quarter. The percentage of 7 or 7 Plus buyers didn’t quite crack 70% last quarter, but this quarter, the number jumped to 81%.
Additionally, legacy models sold in the same quarter last year (when the 6s was the latest iPhone model) accounted for 34% of all iPhones sold in the US. This year, that number fell to 19%. Even with the iPhone 8 set to be unveiled in the next two months, consumers are still buying the latest, greatest iPhones. It’ll be interesting to see how this affects iPhone 7s and iPhone 8 sales later this year.
