On the evening of August 9, Beijing time, data from research institutions such as Yankee Group, CIRP, ComScore, and IDC showed that in the U.S. market, the user loyalty for Android phones is lower than that of iPhones, which will result in the number of iPhone users in the United States surpassing Android next year.
The highest user loyalty is for iPhones
Data from Yankee Group shows that the number of American iPhone users will surpass Android phone users next year because iPhone users have higher loyalty; once they enter Apple's application and service ecosystem, they become hooked.
In contrast, Android users are more likely to switch to other platforms. In the U.S., a large portion of Android users are considering or have already switched to iPhones. Yankee Group stated that this means Android has reached its peak in the U.S., with user numbers covering approximately 34% of the U.S. population.
Given the rapid global growth in Android phone shipments, this prediction may come as a surprise, but data from another research firm, ComScore, also supports this claim.
ComScore data shows that in June this year, the number of Android phones in use in the U.S. declined for the first time, decreasing by 150,000 to 73.7 million, while the number of iPhone users increased by 1.3 million to 56.6 million.
Currently, the U.S. smartphone market is becoming increasingly saturated. ComScore data indicates that 59% of mobile phone users already own a smartphone. However, more and more people are preparing to replace their smartphones purchased two years ago or earlier, which will benefit Apple.
Research firm CIRP surveyed 500 American users who purchased phones between January and March this year and found that iPhone users had the highest loyalty: 78% of users who already owned an iPhone would continue to buy a new iPhone, whereas this proportion was only 67% for Android users.
Yankee Group's figures were similar: "Only 9% of iPhone users plan to switch to another platform when purchasing a new phone next time, while this proportion is as high as 24% for Android users."
Additionally, 18% of Android phone users plan to choose an iPhone when buying a new phone next time, while 76% of Android phone users indicated they would continue using Android.
Samsung's performance was unexpected
Surprisingly, data from Yankee Group showed that Samsung users' loyalty was not particularly high. Between 2010 and 2012, Samsung launched 24 different models of smartphones in the U.S., yet only 56% of Samsung smartphone users said they would continue to buy Samsung products when switching phones next time.
Despite this, within the Android camp, this proportion is still the highest. The corresponding figure for Motorola Mobility is 45%, HTC is 40%, and LG is 35%.
Yankee Group stated that currently, most of Samsung's mobile marketing budget is spent on advertising and incentivizing salespeople to promote Samsung phones. To increase user loyalty, Samsung should offer users certain discounts and provide better local services for damaged or defective phones.
The ecosystem is like a leaky bucket
Yankee Group stated that the competition between Android and Apple ecosystems has now become the key factor in whether users renew their contracts. Once users purchase an iPhone, the likelihood of them switching to another ecosystem becomes very small.
Yankee Group further stated that one can imagine the Apple and Android ecosystems as two buckets, with new smartphone buyers falling into these two buckets like rainwater. These two buckets receive roughly the same amount of rainfall, but the amount of rainfall falling into the Windows Phone and BlackBerry buckets is much less.
Yankee Group continued by saying that the Android bucket leaks severely, losing about one-fifth of the water, while the Apple bucket only loses about 7%. Therefore, what remains is more. Although the Apple bucket initially did not contain as much water as the Android bucket, since the Apple bucket fills faster than the Android bucket, it will eventually surpass the Android bucket.
Yankee Group stated that due to the limited number of users upgrading from feature phones to smartphones, the only way for the Android bucket to fill up is to ensure that as few users as possible switch to other platforms.
For this reason, Yankee Group suggested that Google should plug the holes where users are leaking out by strengthening the Android ecosystem brand and prohibiting phone manufacturers from arbitrarily customizing Android, among other measures.
Lowest user loyalty for BlackBerry
Data from CIRP and Yankee Group showed that BlackBerry phones have the lowest user loyalty. CIRP surveyed 500 mobile phone buyers and found that only 10% of BlackBerry users chose to stay with the BlackBerry platform between January and March this year.
In the past 12 months, Yankee Group surveyed 16,000 users in the U.S. and found that BlackBerry phone users had even lower loyalty, with only 5% of BlackBerry phone users indicating they would continue using the BlackBerry platform in the future.
This is basically consistent with the findings from ComScore. ComScore data showed that the number of BlackBerry users in the U.S. decreased from 7.6 million in January to 6.2 million in June. According to IDC data, BlackBerry phone shipments fell to 5.1 million units between April and June this year, the lowest record since 2009. (Li Ming)