iPhone and Android now hold 50/50 share of the smartphone market in the United States

[nanoguy]

In context: Brand loyalty and switching trends have helped Apple gain significant ground in the United States and away from Google's Android mobile OS. This is the second year that see roughly equal number of iOS and Android device activations, but the former is a little better at retaining users when they upgrade their phone.

The latest data from Consumer Research Intelligence Partners (CIRP) is in, and it looks like consumers in the US are evenly divided between the two dominating mobile platforms, Google Android and Apple iOS. According to the market research firm, there's been little change over the last few years in terms of new device activations, which could indicate the market has stabilized.

However, this is a clear and important win for Apple, whose mobile operating system had previously lagged behind Android in terms of new device activations.

Back in 2017, two out of three consumers bought an Android phone and that didn't change significantly until the second half of 2019.

CIRP partner and co-founder Mike Levin says this can be partly explained by looking at loyalty and switching. Both Android and iOS have enjoyed strong loyalty levels over the last five years, with the former retaining 90 to 93 percent of its users and the latter retaining between 86 to 93 percent.

Loyalty of Apple iPhone users has gradually increased to the point where it edges Android's by a slight margin, possibly fueled by a number of factors such as growing mistrust of Android's security and privacy, as well as Apple offering system updates for longer than three years, which is a lot to ask even for some flagship Android phones. In recent years Apple has started to offer more affordable devices like the iPhone SE as well.

CIRP says its latest findings are based on surveys conducted in the US with people who activated a new or used phone in the quarter ending in June, so there is some room for error and this isn't representative of the population at large. However, SellCell's observations on the used phone market do add some weight to CIRP's conclusion that Android brand loyalty is falling, albeit slowly, among American consumers.

Whether or not that's because of better resale value of iPhones at a time when industry-wide shortages are affecting availability of everything with chips inside or because of the perceived benefits of iOS, we couldn't conclusively tell. One thing is certain though, there are now fewer Android manufacturers and they're definitely trying to convert iPhone users into Android adopters, or at least prevent a reversal.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/90488-iphone-android-now-hold-5050-share-smartphone-market.html

 

[Xex360]

Makes sense, both iPhones and most Android phones are featureless clones, no headphone jack, no sd card, screen with dead pixels.

 

[DZillaXx]

Its hard to find a good cheap android phone that supports all the wireless bands you need while getting the long term support you'd want. While the iPhone SE just does.

Android phones are a huge hit or miss, and you nearly almost always have to go with a flagship device.

The current iPhone SE is a big win for apple. Even if iOS is designed for the simple minded user and not very open minded. You can set it up for use of mainly google services, but it is very second rate. And Apple's cloud service is bottom of the barrel and extremely outdated, and having to ever access it from a non iOS device makes it feel like mid 2000s tech.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Loyalty of Apple iPhone users has gradually increased to the point where it edges Android's by a slight margin, possibly fueled by a number of factors such as growing mistrust of Android's security and privacy, as well as Apple offering system updates for longer than three years, which is a lot to ask even for some flagship Android phones

ANYONE who does tech support for normal non techies knows that this entire paragraph is a total waste of time. Normies dont care about system updates or give one iota about "muh security" or "muh privacy", those that do certianly dont buy Apples LMFAO.

You knwo why they switch? Here's why: "Hey Theinsanegamern, My phone is slow/ battery has failed/ screen is glitching/run out of storage,I just got it from verizon/ATT". Consoomers are just stupid, plain and simple. Their phone fails, likely because they got a *free* samsung A50 from verizon on their carrier plan, and now think all android phones are garbage, because samsung makes all androids.

Motorola? do they make radios or something? LG? Well I know they make washers. HTC? Isnt that the drug that hippies are trying to legalize?

Android manufacturers have done a TERRIBLE job of putting their name out there, low end models from most companies are complete trash. Motorola does a decent job making budget phones, and they are the only one other then old samsung making profit. LG (RIP), Samsung, and the like still insist on using their own bloated UIs that slow the phones to a crawl, samsung in particular has a long running bug in multiple cheap J/A models that fills up their storage with junk and makes them unusable, and once the batteries begin to fail there is no store to take them to to replace them.

Consumers used to put up with this because androids had SD card storage, headphone jacks, and replaceable batteries. Much of this has been taken away, and while the large battery craze seems to have had an effect, it's still no proper alternative to easily replaced consummables. And now that flagship androids cost as much as apples flagships, you dont even save any money using them....

And lets face it: consoomers are total mor0ns. Syncing files to your email? Remembering your email password? Setting up an account? Despite holding your hand throught he whole process, google has not been able to fix most users being totally unable to handle this themselves. Apple has stores and "geneiuses" to do it for you.

 

[punctualturn]

Lets see, apple execs responses to requests made by their customers when asked for a sideloading options " If you want sideloading, go get an android device".

Apple thoughts about their userbase" they are children and need to be treated as such on iOS devices".

Yeah, those apple numbers are still way too high.

 

[trparky]

Android manufacturers have done a TERRIBLE job of putting their name out there, low end models from most companies are complete trash.

Yep, most low-end cheap Androids have such low end processors in them that it makes them obsolete even before the phone was made. They're cheap for a reason and not for any good reasons.

Motorola does a decent job making budget phones, and they are the only one other then old Samsung making profit.

Even Motorola devices come with slower and older chipsets that don’t age gracefully at all.

And lets face it: consumers are total mor0ns. Syncing files to your email? Remembering your email password? Setting up an account? Despite holding your hand thought the whole process, google has not been able to fix most users being totally unable to handle this themselves. Apple has stores and "geniuses" to do it for you.

I’ve been saying this for awhile. The average user needs all the hand holding that they can get and a metric ton more. Geeks seem to forget this, they forget that not everyone is like them. They talk about things like freedom to do this, or do that, customize this, or customize that, but the average user doesn’t care or even needs that kind of power. They just want it to work. Period.

Even if iOS is designed for the simple minded user and not very open minded.

I wouldn’t say that. I’ve own an iPhone for nearly five years and beginning with iOS 12 and iOS 13 Apple has been making great strides in making it more capable. iOS 14 opened the floodgates for default apps other than their own. I, myself, have replaced the mail app with Microsoft Outlook which blows Apple Mail out of the water. Yes, I’m a power user and yes, there have been times that I’d like more functionality it’s not a show stopping kind of thing. I still love iOS and would never change.

 

[m4a4]

CIRP's latest data was based on a survey of 500 U.S. subjects that activated a new or used smartphone in the period from April to June this year. Given the small sample size, there is certainly some margin of error to these numbers, but the data provides a reliable look at activations and loyalty over time as it uses the same survey each quarter.

Found on another site. Why are people giving this so much weight?

500 people polled, and it's based on activations. Which, aren't a good chunk of iPhone users known to do yearly updates to "stay fashionable"?

 

[punctualturn]

The average user needs all the hand holding that they can get and a metric ton more.

I realized that the hard way.

this person is very smart, but for some reason, it cannot comprehend the concept of having an account on a service.

Worse, becomes hostile when trying to explain the importance of that or a password manager.

Really an eye opener.

 

[nismo91]

As much as I don't like apple, there's one thing they did right: they don't spend so much time re-designing their hardware.

Samsung and other manufacturers spend too much effort redesigning their phones (probably to attract buyers to upgrade to the latest and greatest) while Apple had no trouble selling phones that was designed 2017 today (iPhone SE). I'm pretty sure there's a lot of people chose Samsung S20/S21 simply because they need top-of-the-line Android device, not because of what they look.

 

[punctualturn]

As much as I don't like apple, there's one thing they did right: they don't spend so much time re-designing their hardware.

Samsung and other manufacturers spend too much effort redesigning their phones (probably to attract buyers to upgrade to the latest and greatest) while Apple had no trouble selling phones that was designed 2017 today (iPhone SE). I'm pretty sure there's a lot of people chose Samsung S20/S21 simply because they need top-of-the-line Android device, not because of what they look.

Samsung is really a weird beast.

They have the android market, yet act like they dont.

Example, they are the first ones to bend over to carriers to install all the bloatware they want.

Or Samsung itself pushing ads on their own apps for no reasons.

Or as you said, not maintaining a design language.

Their hardware is very good though and some of their software is either good to great (DeX is amazing, OneUI is a big improvement).

 

[Nobina]

What Apple did right is release the original iPhone before Android phones were a thing. That made people with iPhones used to them and they don't want to switch. If people get used to something they tend to stick with it. Personally, I don't see the big difference, you have a homescreen with icons on it and you go from there. It's a media consumption and tracking device.

 

[QuantumPhysics]

Hundreds of dozens of Androids.

But there's only ONE iPhone.

 

[bviktor]

Makes sense, both iPhones and most Android phones are featureless clones, no headphone jack, no sd card, screen with dead pixels.

That would be a valid argument, if any of those points actually mattered.

 

[p51d007]

I was browsing a t-mobile store about 3 weeks ago. I thought I walked into an Apple store.
Last weekend, was in an AT&T store with a buddy of mine. Same thing...thought I had walked
into an Apple store. Apple phones EVERYWHERE. I did find some Samsung stuff farther
back in the store and really had to LOOK to find anything else. Especially the "cheap" phones.
You know good and well Apple is paying these stores for "front row seating", not to mention probably offering subsidies.

 

[Lew Zealand]

Found on another site. Why are people giving this so much weight?

500 people polled, and it's based on activations. Which, aren't a good chunk of iPhone users known to do yearly updates to "stay fashionable"?

Considering the average iPhone replacement rate has moved past 4 years, I'd say "no." Unless a good chunk is <10%. Maybe that qualifies as good?

Note that 4 years is longer than Android phones receive OS updates and you still have a year or more left on your iPhone of directly supported OS updates.

 

[Snowy]

I don't get what logic the writer has. iPhone is a device, Android is an operating system. Headline: "iPhone and Android now hold 50/50 share..." How do you compare shares device/OS (50/50)? It is iPhone/Samsung or iOS/Android. If the writer does not understand it there is no point to read the rest.

 

[0dium]

While Samsung and Xiaomi have more market share worldwide...

 

[HomeyBroDude]

Android is #1, Xiaomi is #2 & Apple is #3 in global sales.

 

[m4a4]

Considering the average iPhone replacement rate has moved past 4 years, I'd say "no." Unless a good chunk is <10%. Maybe that qualifies as good?

That's not a stat for only the USA.
Besides, last I checked, the US carrier system is heavily based around subsidized phones. A lot more people will upgrade to the latest phone because it is made to look cheap.

It's a point against the US. As people will essentially finance such an expensive phone (instead of buying it outright). And iPhone is much more a fashion statement in the USA than around the world (with carriers pushing it more than android too, because more money).

Many things unique to the USA...

 

[NumberSix]

Hundreds of dozens of Androids.

But there's only ONE iPhone.

And choice is never a bad thing.

 

[MaxSmarties]

Hundreds of dozens of Androids.

But there's only ONE iPhone.

actually not just one iphone, but I understood your point.

 

[trparky]

And choice is never a bad thing.

For techies like us, yes... choice isn't bad. But for most users, choice is one more headache that users don't need. Us techies ramble on about choice but I say that the average user doesn't give a rat's rear end about choice, they just want something that works.

 

[Xex360]

That would be a valid argument, if any of those points actually mattered.

Indeed, some people like to pay more for inferior products.

 

[Avro Arrow]

This is only significant in the USA which is a relatively small market when compared to China and the EU. Then there's also non-EU European countries as well as Russia, India, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, etc. to consider.

Worldwide, Android holds a commanding 73% market share as of June of 2021 because consumerism is, for the most part, a North American phenomenon. Apple phones generally don't impress the populations of other countries as much as they do the USA and Canada (Canada is 54-46 in favour of Android). In Canada though, I'm pretty sure that the Apple-loving population is concentrated in Southern Ontario (read: near Toronto) because they tend to be more influenced by US culture than the rest of Canada.

Hell, the only place in Canada in which the Super Bowl is a bigger deal than the Grey Cup is the Greater Toronto Area. The Grey Cup game draws much better ratings than the Super Bowl everywhere else in the country. That's all that really needs to be said.

As for me, I'll never own an iPhone because I'm "Allergic to Apples".

 

[trparky]

Indeed, some people like to pay more for inferior products.

I'd say that Android devices are inferior products based solely on their software support life cycle. If Microsoft did the same thing that Android OEMs did people would be outside Redmond with pitchforks and torches, yet Android OEMs get a free pass. I just don't get it. Double standard much?

Some of these devices are just as expensive as flagship Apple devices yet they get a mere fraction of the software support that an iPhone gets.

Tell me again which is the better product? I'll give a hint, it's not Android.