If you have the money to buy a new iPhone and are considering a new smartphone, your range of options is effectively any smartphone device in the market.
If you're buying an Android device, you're statistically likely trying to save money and therefore a new iPhone isn't a realistic option. Thus, the range of options you consider tends to be Android-only unless your smartphone budget has changed significantly since the previous time you bought a phone.
These points are worth considering when looking at the chart presented in the link.
I think it's more about which ecosystem has the bigger lock in. I used to be locked into the Apple ecosystem and it was somewhat painful to extricate myself. What's interesting about Google's ecosystem is that I was locked into it even when I had an iPhone. And I can't imagine trying to extricate myself from Google, it would be even more painful. Now that I'm on Android the Google locked-in ecosystem is a bit smoother with things like Google Photos.
$350 gets you a 6 years old phone design, an iPhone 5 with better internals.
$700 gets you a 4 years old phone design, an iPhone 6 with better internals.
$1000 gets you a brand new iPhone.
I got a Sony XZ1 Compact for €500 and it works the same or better than an iPhone.
>If you have the money to buy a new iPhone and are considering a new smartphone, your range of options is effectively any smartphone device in the market.
Not necessarily. 'having money' isn't the same as willing to over-pay. In the same vein 'saving money' could mean willing to pay an amount apropos to value of the goods.
I think they meant they have money that they are willing to pay for a new iphone. What is over-pay to you might be just-the-right-price for somebody else with different values.
I have a few friends with low phone budgets and in the past they've purchased low-cost Androids and been very dissatisfied with them. Their last purchase, a few months ago, was for iPhone 6's.
Apple may only have high priced phones in the latest generation but iPhone's that are 4 generations back are still being sold (new) as the budget option.
other things to consider is the fact that for a run of the mill Android the insurance cost is significantly less and the deductible in some cases $100 compared to the $250 for an iPhone. Those who realized that the first time around would reconsider buying an Android as their next phone.
Apple is not innovating as they used to in their phone and so Android is quickly closing the gap, which makes them financially speaking more viable option.
For the run of the mill Android phone, why buy insurance at all? My teenage son is always breaking phones. We haven't allowed him to get a phone (with his allowance) that costs more than $100.
> If you're buying an Android device, you're statistically likely trying to save money and therefore a new iPhone isn't a realistic option.
Disagree strongly. Yes, plenty of Android phones come in at lower price-points so they will be more appealing to people looking to save money when purchasing a smartphone. But calling this is "statistically likely" is a gross exaggeration of the situation.
I think by "statistically likely" they just mean "more than 50%," or, in other words, that lower-price-point Android phones outsell top-shelf ones. Given that upmarket they compete with the iPhone but downmarket they pretty much own the entire product space, this doesn't seem particularly unrealistic to me.
We likely have a baserate problem here. Most phones are android, so if someone just picked at random, they’d usually pick android. This doesn’t always mean ‘android loyalty’. It could as easily mean ‘price loyalty’ or ‘carrier promotion loyalty’. If someone picks iOS, with its smaller market share and number of phones, it is more likely brand loyalty to Apple/iOS.
So the two loyalty numbers are not exactly comparable
Question: have you read the article? Loyalty rate is defined as the number of users who switched from one platform to the other in the last year over the number of user on the departing platform. They even say that the absolute number looks different because of the bigger market share of Android.
Now, your argument is that someone who chose to stay with a device with smaller CB is more loyal, but what the article is saying is that out of 100 Android user, around 90 bought a new Android when replacing the phone, while only 86 Apple user bought a new iPhone.
I don't see how you dispute this fact as an evidence that Android users are more loyal. Even an argument on network advantage doesn't work because Android phones are very compatible with Apple ones (not the other way around) and the Apple ecosystem is still pretty big...
Let me put it this way. You walk into a Verizon store and see 15 cell phones. 2-3 of them are iOS. The other 12-13 are android. Buying an iOS device is likely to mean that your an Apple fan. Buying an android might mean that you like android. Or it might mean you like the particular phone, or you might be price conscious. All things that are not “android loyalty”.
One problem is that iOS is essentially the same thing as iPhone in terms of purchasing decisions. This is not true for android. Ergo, it’s not safe to equate the phone and OS in the android world but it mostly is in the iOS world.
Okay, but you're essentially telling someone whose job it is to produce this data that they're doing it wrong. Maybe they have already thought about this. Its far more likely that techcrunch is misrepresenting the data with their headline. :)
And no, I did not check the underlying article. I think my point stands regardless though. iOS/iPhone and Android/a bunch of different phones are not interpretable in the same way. There’s no real way to “account” for this
Today, Android has a 91 percent loyalty rate, compared with 86 percent for iOS, measured as the percentage of U.S. customers who stayed with their operating system when they upgraded their phone in 2017.
According to Statistica[1] Android has 53.6% of the U.S smartphone marketshare and iOS has 45%. So I would say those loyalty rate numbers are perfectly comparable.
The base rate issue here is not about market share, it’s about the number of phone choices. If I pick a phone at random, there’s a very high percentage chance it will be android, because there are dozens of phones by different makers.
There are what like 3-5 actively sold iPhone models? So is someone who trades in their Pixel for a Samsung “loyal to android” or did they just happen to like a phone that happened to be an android?
In the iPhone world the two go together, so brand loyalty = phone loyalty = OS loyalty
Price loyalty for Android is not as true today as it was 3 years ago. Apple now sells a variety of phones ranging from $350 to $1000+ USD. In developed countries, this certainly allows consumers to cross shop between Android and iOS.
They sell one phone for $350 - the iPhone SE. While I'm thinking about "upgrading" to the SE - I'm really starting to like the idea of a real small phone and my iPad - most people don't want a phone that size.
But $350 is still higher than the average price of an Android phone - $227
Does anybody other than people who actually work in the marketing department of a phone manufacturer care? Is anybody still basing their identity around the brand of smartphone they use in 2018? If so, that's sad. The iPhone vs. Android battles were stupid in 2010 they're beyond pathetic in 2018. Pick the phone you like and move on with your life.
Can’t be said enough. There are good reasons to choose either platform - Apple devices tend to be a little slicker and have better software, but there is a much wider variety of Android devices and the experience is more customisable.
It’s still useful to know what way the market is moving and customers’ perception of devices to help us make informed choices about things like device support. But it’s not a competition for anybody except Apple and Android phone manufacturers; pick the platform that suits your needs and ecosystem best, and it’ll be fine.
I used Android phones for years due to this, I've been using GNU/Linux exclusively since 1994 and the idea that Android was open was compelling to me. I also believe Richard Stallman is an actual saint. However, Google's appalling data collection practices and coercive dark patterns[0] and the fact that the important parts of an Android phone are not at all open disillusioned me on the virtue of Android. That and bad experiences[1] with my latest MotoG persuaded me to switch. The final straw was that it started dieing spontaneously under load. Too bad they did not think to slow it down when the battery aged.
IOS may be against my free software religion, but bacon is delicious! I really like my iPhone and I hated the last Android phone although the one previous was not as bad.
Of course once you abandon your principles you are on the slippery path with no anchor to prevent you from getting an iPad, Airpods, the watch, and probably Homepod too. However, I'm still on GNU/Linux for desktop/laptop and don't see that changing.
[0] Example: I used to use the Android phone as a pedometer with my treadmill desk. After an update it refused to do this anymore without location services enabled so that it could help me record my routes. I'm pretty sure a) I know where my desk has been, b) I don't want Google knowing everywhere I go.
[1] Example, on the freeway going 75 surrounded by feral Trumpers in giant pickup trucks, ask phone "Navigate to Fremont Costco". Do I get voice navigation? or a map?. No, it puts up a dialog box about "the destination location will be closing in 35 minutes, do you still want to do this?". I can almost picture the product meeting where they dreamed up this feature. But consider - the phone knows: It's only 10 minutes away, I'm headed toward it, I'm obviously driving. Why would it think a little box full of tiny text is remotely helpful or appropriate? IOS has some flaws but is never this obtuse.
People will exhibit tribal behavior over anything. Of course they base their identity around the brand of smartphone they use. It would be surprising if they didn’t. It’s not sad. It’s just human nature.
Brand loyalty to Android doesn't even help the "marketing department of the phone company". Even people who are loyal to Android are seldomly loyal to a manufacturer.
Android tends to be more flexible with a few things. At least I see a lot of users using custom fonts and crazy widgets, that would never work out with the iOS sandbox concept. iOS users that i know often have an iPhone because it just works pretty well. They would use iMessage and iCloud and everything is fully integrated.
I am currently on iOS, but I have deep concerns how Apple is controlling the Apps on the App Store and in general is pushing its agenda to everyone’s phone just like that. When my 6s breaks I will very likely switch back to Android just for the reason of being able to root my device, sideload applications and control traffic via hosts file. Also, Wireshark and other fun stuff.
Between the ecosystems and physical handset variety (Freetel Mushashi vs. Galaxy Note 8), I'm not surprised that the data would show that Android now has higher loyalty than iOS.
Why? I would hazard that it would be the Google ecosystem; Gmail, Google Maps, Google Drive, YouTube, etc are just about irreplaceable without compromises that most non-HN users are not generally willing to make.
Edit: Well, guess who forgot something as elementary as Google ecosystem being on Apple devices too? Me.
It's a strange feeling being embarrassed based on some text on the internet.
The numbers that don’t lie are in smart phone profits. If you have a reasonable amount of loyalty, you will also be able to charge a premium. Yet only Apple and maybe Google’s pixel are in that arena.
Readit News
If you're buying an Android device, you're statistically likely trying to save money and therefore a new iPhone isn't a realistic option. Thus, the range of options you consider tends to be Android-only unless your smartphone budget has changed significantly since the previous time you bought a phone.
These points are worth considering when looking at the chart presented in the link.
I think it's more about which ecosystem has the bigger lock in. I used to be locked into the Apple ecosystem and it was somewhat painful to extricate myself. What's interesting about Google's ecosystem is that I was locked into it even when I had an iPhone. And I can't imagine trying to extricate myself from Google, it would be even more painful. Now that I'm on Android the Google locked-in ecosystem is a bit smoother with things like Google Photos.
I got a Sony XZ1 Compact for €500 and it works the same or better than an iPhone.
Example: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01EYT1URO/
Not necessarily. 'having money' isn't the same as willing to over-pay. In the same vein 'saving money' could mean willing to pay an amount apropos to value of the goods.
Android users might just like the ecosystem better. There are rational reasons for that. Just like some people prefer Apple's ecosystem.
I wonder how the loyalty levels vary by phone price?
Apple may only have high priced phones in the latest generation but iPhone's that are 4 generations back are still being sold (new) as the budget option.
Apple is not innovating as they used to in their phone and so Android is quickly closing the gap, which makes them financially speaking more viable option.
I'm very impressed with the $100 Moto G.
Disagree strongly. Yes, plenty of Android phones come in at lower price-points so they will be more appealing to people looking to save money when purchasing a smartphone. But calling this is "statistically likely" is a gross exaggeration of the situation.
The average selling price of an Android phone is $227. The ASP of an iPhone is $692.
https://www.androidauthority.com/price-gap-samsung-apple-sma...
The fact is if your budget for a phone is $300. You're going to buy an Android.
EDIT:
The link above compares Apple and Samsung. The gap is even wider when you take all manufacturers into account. $691 - $215.
http://fortune.com/2016/02/15/apple-android-asps/
I am not exaggerating in the slightest.
So the two loyalty numbers are not exactly comparable
Now, your argument is that someone who chose to stay with a device with smaller CB is more loyal, but what the article is saying is that out of 100 Android user, around 90 bought a new Android when replacing the phone, while only 86 Apple user bought a new iPhone.
I don't see how you dispute this fact as an evidence that Android users are more loyal. Even an argument on network advantage doesn't work because Android phones are very compatible with Apple ones (not the other way around) and the Apple ecosystem is still pretty big...
One problem is that iOS is essentially the same thing as iPhone in terms of purchasing decisions. This is not true for android. Ergo, it’s not safe to equate the phone and OS in the android world but it mostly is in the iOS world.
And no, I did not check the underlying article. I think my point stands regardless though. iOS/iPhone and Android/a bunch of different phones are not interpretable in the same way. There’s no real way to “account” for this
According to Statistica[1] Android has 53.6% of the U.S smartphone marketshare and iOS has 45%. So I would say those loyalty rate numbers are perfectly comparable.
[1]https://www.statista.com/statistics/266572/market-share-held...
There are what like 3-5 actively sold iPhone models? So is someone who trades in their Pixel for a Samsung “loyal to android” or did they just happen to like a phone that happened to be an android?
In the iPhone world the two go together, so brand loyalty = phone loyalty = OS loyalty
But $350 is still higher than the average price of an Android phone - $227
https://www.androidauthority.com/price-gap-samsung-apple-sma...
It’s still useful to know what way the market is moving and customers’ perception of devices to help us make informed choices about things like device support. But it’s not a competition for anybody except Apple and Android phone manufacturers; pick the platform that suits your needs and ecosystem best, and it’ll be fine.
They tend to gravitate towards platform-specific apps, and when all the cool kids have iPhones, guess what they're going to insist on?
IOS may be against my free software religion, but bacon is delicious! I really like my iPhone and I hated the last Android phone although the one previous was not as bad.
Of course once you abandon your principles you are on the slippery path with no anchor to prevent you from getting an iPad, Airpods, the watch, and probably Homepod too. However, I'm still on GNU/Linux for desktop/laptop and don't see that changing.
[0] Example: I used to use the Android phone as a pedometer with my treadmill desk. After an update it refused to do this anymore without location services enabled so that it could help me record my routes. I'm pretty sure a) I know where my desk has been, b) I don't want Google knowing everywhere I go.
[1] Example, on the freeway going 75 surrounded by feral Trumpers in giant pickup trucks, ask phone "Navigate to Fremont Costco". Do I get voice navigation? or a map?. No, it puts up a dialog box about "the destination location will be closing in 35 minutes, do you still want to do this?". I can almost picture the product meeting where they dreamed up this feature. But consider - the phone knows: It's only 10 minutes away, I'm headed toward it, I'm obviously driving. Why would it think a little box full of tiny text is remotely helpful or appropriate? IOS has some flaws but is never this obtuse.
I am currently on iOS, but I have deep concerns how Apple is controlling the Apps on the App Store and in general is pushing its agenda to everyone’s phone just like that. When my 6s breaks I will very likely switch back to Android just for the reason of being able to root my device, sideload applications and control traffic via hosts file. Also, Wireshark and other fun stuff.
Many people pick Android because that is what their cell phone provider has for cheap.
Why? I would hazard that it would be the Google ecosystem; Gmail, Google Maps, Google Drive, YouTube, etc are just about irreplaceable without compromises that most non-HN users are not generally willing to make.
Edit: Well, guess who forgot something as elementary as Google ecosystem being on Apple devices too? Me.
It's a strange feeling being embarrassed based on some text on the internet.
One reason I keep everything on Google is because it lets me effortlessly switch between Android and iOS.
(And it used to be that iOS apps were way behind/inferior to Android ones, but that isn't usually the case anymore.)
The article even makes note of this, further down.
For Apple, iOS is a differentiator. For everyone else making handsets, the software is not a differentiator.
Money talks!