Android or iPhone? Who are the most faithful to the brand? Many may think that Apple has the baton in this regard, but in a new study it has been found that Android users are more loyal to the brand than Apple itself.
By Manuel López Michelone • 10-Mar-2018
Whenever we talk about technology brands and the loyalty of their users, we think of Apple. For many years it seems that who has an Apple device becomes a fan of the brand. However, a recent study indicates that Android achieves greater fidelity among its users.
Take the case of the Galaxy S9, which may not have some of the features that iPhone X users already enjoy. However, when it comes to brand loyalty, Android users in the Galaxy S9 seem be the most faithful And according to a new study, Android users in general are more loyal to the brand than the users of iOS devices.
The Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) is a research firm that found that the Android brand remains in high fidelity since 2016 and that today has the highest numbers since this measurement is made. Today Android has 91% of brand loyalty, compared to 86% of iOS, measured as a percentage of customers in the United States who keep their phone when there is a computer update, measured in 2017.
From January 2016 to December 2017, the fidelity of Android goes from 89 to 91% (ending in this last number), while the fidelity to iOS is several points below, ranging from 85 to 88%. Mike Levin, co-founder of CIRP, says that it seems that users already feel comfortable enough with the chosen brand and do not seem to want to change.
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"Having two mobile operating systems currently, it seems that users choose one of them, they learn to use it, they invest in apps and storage and then they get married with this system. Now Apple and Google need to see how to sell products and services to this loyal consumer base, "says Levin.
Therefore it is not surprising that both companies have focused more and more on services in order to have more profits from their base clients. For example, Apple has had great financial success from its growing services: Apple Music, Apple Pay, iCloud, AppleCare and App Store.
For Android users, the highest fidelity has to do with the ability to change to different phone styles without having to leave Android, because it has a massive distribution in different brands of phones. This gives users the freedom to try new equipment without having to stop using the apps they bought, and they do not have to relearn how to use the system.
However, we must clarify that Android was not always the leader in user loyalty. In 2013, for example, the owners of the iPhone were much more loyal to the brand than Android users. But this trend was changing little by little year after year. Today Android, as a generic brand, has a large user base, more than iOS.
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And the curious thing is that this kind of studies could be done between OS X and Windows. Microsoft's installed base is huge and Apple's has perhaps more brand loyalty, but it's a much smaller percentage than Microsoft has. They are in general terms very similar and therefore, the result of this study is not surprising.