Apple customers are considered particularly loyal to the brand. However, documents from the company show that this is not always the case. A significant number of users switched from iPhones to other mobile phone platforms between 2019 and 2020. Many chose Android devices.
Curiously, the associated data comes from Apple itself. However, the company did not publish the unflattering figures entirely voluntarily but had to put them on the table in the course of the court case against Epic Games – this is how the switching rate of iPhone users came to the public. It is about the period between the third quarter of 2019 and the third quarter of 2020.
iPhone users not as brand loyal as they thought
Within the year mentioned, between 12 and 26 percent of iPhone users turned their backs on Apple and ventured to other providers’ smartphones. The documents do not reveal which platform was the priority-but it is likely to have been Android with almost certainty.
Willingness to change exceptionally high in the first half of 2020
A closer look reveals differences in the willingness to change. In the third quarter of 2019, it was 19 percent turned away from the iPhone. In the first and second quarters of 2020, the value increased. At that time, over a quarter of iPhone users switched to the competition. Customer loyalty has risen again in the third quarter of 2020. Only 12 percent opted for another provider. The latter may be related to the fact that Apple released the iPhone 12 in the period and convinced many changers of older iPhones with it.
Possible reasons for iPhone abandonment
There are no details on the reasons for the meanwhile significantly increased willingness of iPhone customers to change. However, given the corona pandemic that was beginning at the time and an uncertain future, many customers may have been forced to save on smartphone spending and opt for cheaper Android devices. Conversely, it is not known how many Android users chose an iPhone as their new phone between 2019 and 2020.