iOS and Android Activations Now Split Evenly in the U.S., Research Shows

[MacRumors]

Activations of iOS and Android devices are now evenly split in the United States, with little sign of movement toward either platform dominating over the past two years, according to data sourced by Consumer Research Intelligence Partners (CIRP).

CIRP estimates that iOS and Android each had 50 percent of new smartphone activations in the year ending this quarter. iOS's share of new smartphone activations climbed from 2017 to 2020, but has now remained at its peak level for a second consecutive year.

CIRP Partner and Co-Founder Josh Lowitz said that the finding is significant because for several years, Android smartphones "had a significant edge, with over 60 percent of customers opting for an Android phone in most quarters. In the past couple of years, though, iOS has closed the gap, and now splits the market with Android."

Both Android and iOS users have had a high level of loyalty historically. Android loyalty has varied very slightly, in a narrow range of 90 to 93 percent in the past four years. iOS loyalty, on the other hand, has gradually increased over the past four years, from a low of 86 percent in early 2018 to 93 percent in the most recent quarter ending in June 2021.

Loyalty and tendency to switch platforms may explain some of the change in the share of new smartphone activations, where iOS has gained loyalty in a market with a limited amount of switching. CIRP Partner Mike Levin explained:

In the most recent quarter, Apple had an edge in loyalty, with 93 percent of prior iPhone owners upgrading to a new iPhone, compared to 88 percent of Android owners staying with Android. Over several years, iOS gained about five percentage points in loyalty, while Android remained flat. This allowed Apple to steadily increase the iOS share of new smartphone activations.

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.

Article Link: iOS and Android Activations Now Split Evenly in the U.S., Research Shows

 

[0924487]

Huawei and such plays a role here.

 

[Shirasaki]

Waiting for those “iOS is not a monopoly here” comments.

Even split shows how popular iOS it is inside US. Curious to see how it will change when privacy change from iOS demonstrates its full effect.

 

[Sasparilla]

Makes sense. You've got a 3 year support time or less for most Android phones compared to 5-6 years of iPhones, their value falls off much more quickly than iPhones (if you're wanting to sell on eBay) and of course the privacy angle. It's really amazing its 50/50.

 

[Agit21]

Apple is losing ground. Doesn’t look good.

 

[ksgant]

OMG!! Android has 50% of the marketshare?!?! tHaTS a M0n0p0Ly!

/s

 

[BGPL]

50% of the US has never used an iPhone.

 

[827538]

Apple is losing ground. Doesn’t look good.

The graph shows Apple increasing its' market share?

 

[827538]

Not surprising really. iPhones offer much better long term support - my iPhone 6S will be supported into 2022 and even 2023 with security updates, I can't name a single Android phone that matches that level of support. This then feeds into resale value and total cost of ownership.

There's nothing appealing to me regarding Android, they might get some features first like 120Hz displays but Apple always does it better. Also their performance advantage is easily a year ahead of Android. I've yet to come across iOS malware, yet this is a sizable problem on Android.

-Security
-Updates
-Performance
-User Experience
-Privacy
-Refinement

Android wins in maybe first to market with new features and competes at the bottom end where margins are razor thin. If you just want a phone and don't care about the best there's always the SE.

 

[Jason2000]

Apple is losing ground. Doesn’t look good.

What ?? Less than 50% a few years ago and now at 50% means growth. You must have gone to a public school....lol

 

[AndiG]

Apples iPhone finally reaches EOL

Tremendous security issues caused by dozens or hundreds of new features every year. In the meantime no one wants to buy iOS exploits, there are just too many out in the wild.

Shame on you Apple!!! Installing malware through a silent SMS? Can somebody pleaee uninstall iMessage?

https://www.macrumors.com/2021/07/19/pegasus-spyware-imessage-targets-activists/

Boring releases of a new iPhone version XY every year, each a thousand dollar? But worthless when it comes to security? Android is getting closer every year and may be more secure since it has Linux as the base OS. The source code of iOS is secret and no one knows how buggy it has become wthin the last 14 years.


Cook needs to leave. Apple needs a new CEO with a different focus on devices, interoperability and cloud.

 

[Captain Trips]

Waiting for those “iOS is not a monopoly here” comments.

Even split shows how popular iOS it is inside US. Curious to see how it will change when privacy change from iOS demonstrates its full effect.

That would be because Apple does not have a monopoly in the smart phone market.

Do you think that Ford has a monopoly in the automotive market because only Ford can provide warranties for Ford vehicles?

 

[MacBebe]

Apple is losing ground. Doesn’t look good.

I don't know if the comment was meant to be sarcastic.

 

[CR45H 0V3RR1D3]

Android still dominates over 80% of the market share. Gonna have to do better than this to make it look like it's even close. You could argue which platform is better til the cows come home. But what you can't argue, is that more people still use Android because of the freedom, and rightly so. Who wants to pay upwards of a grand for a device, only to be told what you can do with it? This is why Android will ALWAYS be the dominating Os, regardless of it's many inherent flaws. It is certainly not perfect, by any means, but at least I am allowed FULL control over my device that's running it.

 

[nvmls]

Apples iPhone finally reaches EOL

Tremendous security issues caused by dozens or hundreds of new features every year. In the meantime no one wants to buy iOS exploits, there are just too many out in the wild.

Shame on you Apple!!! Installing malware through a silent SMS? Can somebody pleaee uninstall iMessage?

https://www.macrumors.com/2021/07/19/pegasus-spyware-imessage-targets-activists/

Boring releases of a new iPhone version XY every year, each a thousand dollar? But worthless when it comes to security? Android is getting closer every year and may be more secure since it has Linux as the base OS. The source code of iOS is secret and no one knows how buggy it has become wthin the last 14 years.


Cook needs to leave. Apple needs a new CEO with a different focus on devices, interoperability and cloud.

Lol, I'll bite.
Tim is brilliant but sure, a product person like jobs would be welcome but keeping Timo around.

For the rest, I partially agree Apple's software quality & UX have taken a dive, but, comparing it with a Java made mobile OS is nothing but hilarious.

 

[kk200]

OMG!! Android has 50% of the marketshare?!?! tHaTS a M0n0p0Ly!

/s

some kinds of truth. US banned Huawei and scared all chin. phone maker to enter this market. Now it basically a garden for Samsung alone.

 

[FightTheFuture]

Android still dominates over 80% of the market share. Gonna have to do better than this to make it look like it's even close.

Apple vs. Everybody

 

[MacBebe]

Apple vs. Everybody

Exactly. Having half of the pie is quite amazing ... if you ask me.

 

[velocityg4]

While the 50% market share is interesting. I wonder what the market share is for phones which cost $400 or more? How about $800 or more?

 

[citysnaps]

Apples iPhone finally reaches EOL

Tremendous security issues caused by dozens or hundreds of new features every year. In the meantime no one wants to buy iOS exploits, there are just too many out in the wild.

Shame on you Apple!!! Installing malware through a silent SMS? Can somebody pleaee uninstall iMessage?

https://www.macrumors.com/2021/07/19/pegasus-spyware-imessage-targets-activists/

Boring releases of a new iPhone version XY every year, each a thousand dollar? But worthless when it comes to security? Android is getting closer every year and may be more secure since it has Linux as the base OS. The source code of iOS is secret and no one knows how buggy it has become wthin the last 14 years.


Cook needs to leave. Apple needs a new CEO with a different focus on devices, interoperability and cloud.

Yeah... Apple is doomed. Again.

And Apple will no doubt release record-breaking quarterly financials to prove your point.

 

[AndiG]

Lol, I'll bite.
Tim is brilliant but sure, a product person like jobs would be welcome but keeping Timo around.

For the rest, I partially agree Apple's software quality & UX have taken a dive, but, comparing it with a Java made mobile OS is nothing but hilarious.

Tim is brilliant? So lets have a look …

AppleTV - outpaced by Netflix, Prime, you name it …
FaceTime - still Apple only, Zoom, Teams is the way to go for online conferences
Home Office, Apple recommends using Dropbox and Competitors. iCloud anyone?
iCloud, still offering 5(!)GB base - 😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣🥲🥲🥲 rofl …
iCloud, what about offering a Linux client?
iCloud, what about offering iCloud Copy & Paste for Windows or Linux
iCloud, services, Docker, XY as a service? forget about it - competing with Azure or AWS?

No, Tim is done. No new prodcuts for a decade - just butterfly keyboards are not enough.

 

[szw-mapple fan]

some kinds of truth. US banned Huawei and scared all chin. phone maker to enter this market. Now it basically a garden for Samsung alone.

Huawei was barely in the US for a year before they got banned. The bigger hit was the ban on ZTE, which had a 5 or 6% share in the US. Nowadays Lenovo and OnePlus are still in the market. They and Samsung will probably gobble up LG's marketshare now that they are exiting the phone market.

 

[alex2792]

50% of the US has never used an iPhone.

My wife has and prefers android so she switched to a Galaxy Note.

 

[0924487]

I wish we can side load apps on iOS so that companies and the governments cannot sue or pressure Apple to pull apps. For example, YouTube actively does that for 3rd party YouTube apps. The experience of YouTube is just so much better on Android with 3rd party apps that allow you to not only skip YouTube ads but also in-video sponsors and interaction reminders. Obviously, you can side load on iOS too, but it’s a lot more restrictive.

 

[Red Oak]

Not sure what that means, other than what everyone already knows.

But they don't, that's the part you're not understanding. I guarantee you, if you put 100 people in a room, around 80 of them will be using Android. Not sure what this article is attempting to do, other than drum up good vibes for Apple. 🤷

Apples iPhone finally reaches EOL

Tremendous security issues caused by dozens or hundreds of new features every year. In the meantime no one wants to buy iOS exploits, there are just too many out in the wild.

Shame on you Apple!!! Installing malware through a silent SMS? Can somebody pleaee uninstall iMessage?

https://www.macrumors.com/2021/07/19/pegasus-spyware-imessage-targets-activists/

Boring releases of a new iPhone version XY every year, each a thousand dollar? But worthless when it comes to security? Android is getting closer every year and may be more secure since it has Linux as the base OS. The source code of iOS is secret and no one knows how buggy it has become wthin the last 14 years.


Cook needs to leave. Apple needs a new CEO with a different focus on devices, interoperability and cloud.

Keep yelling into the wind. The iPhone SE sells for $399, fyi
Take a close look at Apple's financials over the last two years and you tell me if you think Apple has momentum or not. Apple has already won - you just don't realize it yet