Tim Cook told investors he’s optimistic that the iPhone 6 still has legs, mostly because it has the highest Android switcher rate the company has seen in over three years.
The bigger screen was supposed to cause an avalanche of Android switchers, but according to Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, most of them must have come from outside the U.S.
Take a lot at their analysis of the last three years of new iPhone buyers:
According to the firm’s recent analysis of their survey data, 16-26% of U.S. iPhone 6 buyers switched from an Android phone in each of the past ten quarters. From October to December 2014, their data shows the switcher rate was at 19% in the U.S., leading them to believe the rate was higher outside of the U.S.
“In the last three ‘launch’ quarters, meaning the first full quarter after a new iPhone model launch, Android users have accounted for roughly the same share of new iPhone buyers,” says Mike Levin, Partner and Co-Founder of CIRP. “Tim Cook emphasized the international strength of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus launch, so it appears that Apple enjoyed a much higher rate of Android switching outside the US than in the more mature U.S. market.”
The U.S. switch rate for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus launch did increase relative to the iPhone 5S/5C launch a year ago, and was about the same as the iPhone 5 launch in 2012. That still puts it in line with Cook’s comment that it was the highest in three years, but sales in China at their highest ever, the switcher rate was probably much higher in Asia.
Source: CIRP
