Seemingly every quarter on Apple’s earnings call with investors, Tim Cook touts “switchers” as a continual driver of iPhone growth. A new survey from PCMag aims to take a deeper look at the top reasons smartphone users move between iPhone and Android.
According to a survey of 2,500 U.S. consumers, some 29 percent had switched mobile operating systems. 11 percent of those switchers went from iOS to Android, while the other 18 percent went from Android to iOS. The primary driver behind those switches, according to the survey? Price.
The majority of smartphone users who have switched mobile OSes—18 percent—went from Android to iOS. Only 11 percent went in the other direction. (We didn’t ask about Windows Phone or BlackBerry.) Naturally, the other 71 percent haven’t switched because, you know, cold dead hands, and so on.
29 percent of the people who switched from iOS to Android said they did so due to “better prices,” while 11 percent said they switched from Android to iOS for the same reason. Meanwhile, 6 percent of users that switched from iOS to Android said they did so because of “more apps” being available on Android, compared to 4 percent who switched to iOS for apps.
The only other area where Android captured a lead was in customer service. 6 percent of switchers from iOS to Android said they did so because of “better customer service,” compared to 3 percent the other way around.
Meanwhile, 47 percent of people who switched from Android to iOS said they did so because of a “better user experience.” 30 percent left iOS and moved to Android for the same reason. Switching to iOS is also popular due to “better features” like camera and design, and faster software updates (shocker!).
Some other nuggets from the same survey: When we asked people who’ve made a switch or are considering switching, most said they don’t care about the new release of a smartphone (56 percent). Thirty-four percent buy a newly released phone when their contract is up, and 17 percent purchase a new phone only when they break the screen on their current phone. In fact, when all respondents were asked how often they replace a phone, over half (53 percent) said they replace a phone when it breaks.
Tim Cook often touts switchers as a large driver of growth for the iPhone. During Apple’s Q3 earnings call last month, Cook said the active iPhone install base grew by double digits thanks to “switchers, first-time smartphone buyers, and existing customers.”
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