Apple’s iPhone Customer Loyalty Is on the Rise

As we can see in the below chart, Apple’s (AAPL) iOS is gaining traction in terms of customer loyalty. The iOS and Android (GOOG) (GOOGL) both have high retention rates. Market research company Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (or CIRP) has estimated iOS loyalty rates at 89% for the quarter ending in September 2018 compared to Android’s loyalty rate of 92%.

According to this Apple Insider report, “CIRP surveyed 500 people in its quarterly survey. Loyalty was measured as the percentage of users who remain with a particular operating system when activating a new phone over a trailing year.” CIRP co-founder and partner Mile Levin stated that the loyalty rate for the two operating systems had reached the highest level yet.

Analyst Horace Dediu from Merrill Lynch expects that around 20% of Android brand users will switch to an iPhone. Apple remains the most popular brand among “switchers.” The report states that over 20% of Android loyalists will switch over to an iPhone on their next smartphone purchase.

Android and iOS remain the two most dominant operating systems in the smartphone space. While Android accounts for 84.8% of the market, iOS accounts for 15.1% in 2018.