Android surpasses iOS in smartphone loyalty

Imposing a temporary halt on the long-pending Android-iOS battle, a study recently revealed that users of the former have higher loyalty than those of the latter.

According to the report on published Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP), Android brand loyalty remained consistently high since early 2016, and are now peaking new highs.

As per the study, Android achieved 91 percent loyalty rate, compared to 86 percent for iOS, as per the percentage of U.S. customers who stayed with their operating system when they upgraded their phone in 2017.

"With only two mobile operating systems at this point, it appears users now pick one, learn it, invest in apps and storage, and stick with it. Now, Apple and Google need to figure out how to sell products and services to these loyal customer bases," said a TechCrunch report, quoting Mike Levin, partner and co-founder of CIRP.

From January 2016 through December 2017, Android loyalty ranged from 89 to 91 percent (ending at 91 percent), while iOS loyalty was several percentage points lower, ranging from 85 to 88 percent.

In 2013, iPhone owners were found to be more loyal than Android users. But that shifted the following year, and Android has risen ever since. A prime reason for this shift in loyalty, according to the CIRP, is the extensive user base that Android enjoys. Therefore, the absolute number of users that switch to iOS from Android is as large or larger than the absolute number of users that switch to Android from iOS, the report said.