Android users switching to iPhones at 5-year high: Report

Talking about the loyal Android and iPhone users, CIRP said, “Over the years, Apple has tried to persuade Android owners to switch to iPhone, while Google has tried the reverse. Switching mobile operating systems is perceived as a challenge by smartphone owners, so loyalty to an operating system remains very high.”

According to CIRP data, 15 per cent of users who bought iPhones between March 2022 and March 2023 had switched from an Android device. Interestingly, 83 per cent of iPhone buyers in the same period had previously owned an Apple device.

Apple and Google are locked in a battle for control of the smartphone software space. Many companies have tried to create their own operating system to compete with iOS and Android, but none have been successful.

Over the years, iPhones have garnered a loyal fan base owing to the dominance of the Apple ecosystem. However, another CIRP research suggests that more than 35 per cent of users are keeping their iPhones for longer than 3 years.

While Apple’s critics have been predicting a drop in the iPhone sales numbers for years, the company has managed to prove them wrong. iPhone sales rose by 1.5 per cent and contributed $51.3 billion in Apple’s March quarterly earnings. Meanwhile, Apple had reported a profit of $24 billion in the March quarter and revenue of $94.8 billion in the first quarter of this year.

Interestingly, a study by Counterpoint Research shows that Apple managed to grow its smartphone base while shipments in the US market fell by 17 per cent in the first quarter of 2023 as users switched from Android to iPhone devices.