The percentage of U.S.-based iPhone owners who just dumped their Android has grown in recent years, according to a market-analysis company.
That’s exactly the opposite of what conventional wisdom says should be happening. Nevertheless, the percentage of Android switchers hasn’t been this high since 2018.
iPhone still attracts plenty of Android owners
Switching from Android to iPhone isn’t as rare as some might think. After iPhone sales set an Q1 record, Apple’s CFO Luca Maestri said the company “grew switchers double digits” as one reason for the growth. The percentage of U.S. teens using iPhone has expanded from 60% in 2014 to 87% in 2023. And a recent survey added some additional details on the trend.
“In the 12 months ending in March 2023, 15% of iPhone buyers reported switching from an Android phone,” Consumer Intelligence Research Partners reported on Wednesday.
For the previous three years, CIRP says the percentage of Android switchers was about 10%, so the most recent survey result indicates a considerable jump.
Of current iPhone users, 83% said their previous phone was also from Apple. The remaining few percentages came from people buying their first handset or switching from something more basic.
CIRP did not survey Android users to see what percentage of users switched from iPhone.
Ecosystem lock-in isn’t a cut-and-dry question
Some pundits levy criticism at both iPhone and Android for allegedly locking users into their various ecosystems. They claim that someone who’s a long-time Android user has a hard time switching to iPhone, and vice versa. CIRP’s data seems to refute that — a significant percentage of users do switch.
Nevertheless, critics complain that Apple, Google, Samsung, etc. don’t try to make their products cross-compatible. An Apple Watch doesn’t sync with an Android, for example. And third-party software also plays a roll. Someone who’s bought multiple Android applications usually has to start over if they switch to iOS.
But that’s not the whole story. Apple tries make it easier to switch from Android to iPhone with the Move to iOS feature. This can automatically transfer contacts, messages, photos and videos, email accounts, calendars, web bookmarks, photo albums, files, folders, songs, and more. And Google makes a similar tool for Android.
