The battle between Android and Apple has been longstanding in the smartphone ecosystem.
Global smartphone shipments increased 6.5 per cent year-on-year to 285.4 million units in the second quarter of 2024, according to research firm International Data Corporation (IDC).
Samsung which uses Android OS captured the top position in the second quarter of this year with an 18.9 per cent market share with shipments of 53.9 million devices. It was followed closely by Apple in the number two position with a 15.8 per cent market share having shipped 45.2 million smartphones over the second quarter.
Now, a new report has pointed towards a surprisingly high percentage of new iPhone owners in June being those who were defecting from Android.
In June 2024, a sizeable 17 per cent of iPhone buyers in the US came from Android, according to a report by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP).
The report adds that this was “the highest level of switching from Android to iOS among iPhone buyers” in the “last several quarters.”
But CIRP cautions that the news could be a double-edged sword for Apple. While it may celebrate the fact that more Android users are buying its new iPhones, it also implies that Apple has been largely unsuccessful in getting existing iPhone users to upgrade to new devices.
A separate CIRP report indicated that the iPhone 15 series wasn’t selling as well as the previous new iPhone models.
In the second quarter of this year, the iPhone 15 models accounted for only 67 per cent of total iPhone sales (compared to 79 per cent for the iPhone 14 series in the equivalent quarter of 2023).
That data could also point towards the iPhone models that Android defectors are mostly choosing – iPhone 14, 14 Plus, 13 and SE models rather than the latest iPhone 15.
Around 53 per cent of Android users cited ‘prior phone problems’ as the reason that they were moving to iPhones, while 15 per cent said it was ‘down cost’ – they could find a comparable iPhone at a lower price than the Android one, which could possibly explain why they were opting for older and cheaper new iPhone models.
In Australia, a top-of-the-line Apple iPhone 15 Pro max 1 TB model costs as much as A$2,899. Comparably, an iPhone 14 Plus with 512 GB costs much less at a starting price of A$2,099.
Meanwhile, a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 which was launched a few weeks ago, costs A$3,299 for the 1TB model in Oz while a Galaxy S24 Ultra is priced at A$2,399.
