Apple has long been one of the most dominant smartphone brands in terms of brand loyalty. New data today from analysts at Consumer Intelligence Research Partners shows that Apple fans continue to remain loyal to Apple, with 90% of iPhone buyers remaining with Apple.
According to the data, Apple accounts for just under half of all US smartphone sales in the past three years. In the same period, Samsung captured a little more than half of Android sales. The data says that Apple has accounted for 43% of US smartphone sales over the past three years, compared to Samsung at 31% and LG at 9%.
In terms of loyalty, the CIRP data shows that loyalty rates for Apple – that is, the percent of customers buying an iPhone whose previous smartphone was also an iPhone – are holding steady at 90%. Brand loyalty for Android manufacturers is not as high because switching brands within the Android ecosystem is easier. That being said, overall loyalty to Android is also at about 90%.
Brand loyalty helps explain trends in overall shares. Apple has had the highest brand loyalty, measured as the percent of customers purchasing a new Apple iPhone whose previous smartphone was also an iPhone. Apple has seen loyalty rates exceed 90% for the past three years.
Switching brands within the Android operating system is easier than switching between Android and iOS, and loyalty to each operating system has remained at about 90% for the past several years. Even so, within Android smartphones, Samsung has the highest loyalty, with around two-thirds of Samsung buyers having owned another Samsung immediately previously. As Samsung maintained its loyal users, Motorola and LG saw lower loyalty a somewhat downward trend since the year ending September 2019.
Apple will report its Q4 2021 earnings later today. A call with investors and analysts will be held at 2 p.m. PDT/5 p.m. EDT with Apple releasing its full earnings report 30 minutes before that.
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