Just over eight years after the smartphone revolution kicked off with the iPhone introduction, the war for which operating system you’ll use seems to be dying down.
About 80 percent of Android and iOS users stuck with their respective platforms when upgrading to a new phone, research from CIRP published today found. And that rate has held steady for the past two years, with Android gaining slightly on Apple’s mobile OS.
“Conventional wisdom says the Apple ‘ecosystem’ promotes loyalty, while Android readily gives up users to iOS,” CIRP’s Josh Lowitz said in a press release. “Our analysis has a more nuanced view on operating system selection, and indicates Android user loyalty has caught up and even exceeds that of iOS.”
Over the past two years, Android has retained 82 percent of users according to the study, while Apple has retained 78 percent of users. Less than 20 percent of Windows users stuck with a Windows-powered phone, while Blackberry retained just 4 percent of users.
As for where new users came from, almost all movement was between iOS and Android. About 16 percent of all Android users who bought a new phone in the past two years came from iOS while 20 percent of all iOS users had previously used an Android device.
The study also found that iOS users who switch to T-Mobile or Sprint are more likely to also switch to Android, while Android users switching to Verizon or AT&T tend to choose an iPhone for their new service.
