80% Android, iOS users are loyal to preferred OS: Report
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Though some 1.3 billion smartphones were sold in 2014, around 80 percent of Android and iOS users were noted to be loyal to their preferred operating system (OS).
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A survey conducted by Ericsson Mobility revealed that customers who chose to upgrade their devices usually upgraded to a device with the same OS as their previous choice.
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The surveyors claimed, “In some mature markets, as many as 60 percent of iOS smartphone owners that switched to the newly launched model had devices that were only a year old."
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Interestingly, the study also discovered that those who upgraded their phone outnumbered first-time buyers.
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Across the globe in 2015, the market share of Android was an overwhelming 80%, whereas iOS stood at 15%.
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The statistics of the survey pointed out that on an average 1.7% of Android users upgraded to a new Android smartphone model each month, whereas 0.3% of them switched to an iOS smartphone when they upgraded.
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In reverse, 1.1% of iOS smartphone users switched to a new iOS smartphone model, while only 0.4% of those who upgraded their phones switched to an Android smartphone.
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Surprisingly, in the case Windows phone users, the trend was different. 60% of users switched to an Android phone and 15% moved to an iOS phone. While only 20% of Windows phone users remained loyal.
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Another trend that was noted was that customers remained loyal to the vendors from whom they had purchased their previous phone.
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The most loyal customers turned out to be those who used very expensive high-end smartphones. They almost always only opted for an upgrade with the same OS as before.
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Launch of the iOS phones turns table for othersÂ
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Apple Inc follows a practice of launching a new iOS phone in the month of September every year, and this move affects markets the most.
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The report suggested that loyalty rates of iOS users increased drastically - from 73% to 93% - after two weeks of the new iOS phone launch in September 2015. On the other hand, loyalty to Android dropped from 82% to 76% in same time period. Once the new iPhone was launched, the number of Android users who switched to iOS effectively doubled.