Lets hope my projections are right then, and applications - hopefully sooner, rather than later - become (somewhat of a) industry asset. With some luck, we'll see a third option materialize soon. This would definitely do wonders for making this particular future less distant :- )
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iPhone Users Demonstrate Strong Loyalty with Planned Retention Rate of 89%
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Lets hope my projections are right then, and applications - hopefully sooner, rather than later - become (somewhat of a) industry asset. With some luck, we'll see a third option materialize soon. This would definitely do wonders for making this particular future less distant :- )
Apple has got us by the balls. I can't imagine going to a different phone, been with the iPhone since 2007.
rbgaynor
macrumors regular
From the article:
"Android as a whole has a planned retention rate of about 55% according to the survey"
Which is well below Apple's 89% planned retention rate.
nagromme
macrumors G5
I would say the other side of that is even more important—and a huge advantage for choosing iOS:
Changing from one Android phone to another, last I checked, was a major hassle, even with the same manufacturer, and even if none if your apps ended up incompatible (fragmentation).
Why? Because as near as I can tell, Google STILL has not fixed the glaring problem that when you switch from one Android device to another, you lose all your customizations, game progress, stored files/music/movies, screen organization, downloaded apps, etc. It’s like starting fresh! What a pain. That’s not the way for your market to be “sticky,” when an iPhone user can get a new iPhone and everything from wallpaper to folder organization is preserved—automatically with no special hoops to jump through. A clone of your old phone, with the new capabilities, thanks to the complete backup that iTunes provides.
So in reality, Android is an “ecosystem” where you LOSE much of your investment in it every time you need a new phone, even if the reason is that the old one didn’t work! Whereas iOS preserves everything for you painlessly.
My iPhone is the home of WAY too much of my life to put up with having to start over like that. And to make things worse: you face the same problem if your Android phone needs a warranty swap! Has this been fixed yet? Can you (finally) get your Android phone swapped and have 100% of your old phone cloned to the new one as it should be? Or is it still a halfway “some things will synch and then you’re on your own”?
Meanwhile, what benefit do most people really get from changing from one Android manufacturer to another? Some benefit, yes—but not as much benefit (for nearly all users, if they realize “open” is pure marketing) as just switching to iPhone and iOS's far-more-complete ecosystem. With a retina display, unmatched integrated music store, no malware, and no worries about the wrong app killing your battery life so you can’t make a call when you need to. (Seriously, my Android friends get less than half their calls and emails on a timely basis, and they lug a charger everywhere—how do they stand it?)
Why would MSFT give up, when they're betting the entire future on the 3 (actually more) screens concept? Sure, Apple changed the game - but we should remember that they were (very) late to the party as well. Also, as stated above, with projected growth of the market the vast majority has yet to adopt ANY option at all.
Second, dont bet your money on that motorola "becomes part of" Android. That, if anything, would be a surprise (and not at all in line with Googles model of business).
And this is why I absolutely refuse to buy into anyone's "ecosystem". I have a 3Gs, which when it was new, I felt was clearly the best phone out there. Given that many of the much-bandied features of iOS5 require buying into iTunes Match and iCloud, and these features are supposed to justify the possible hardware stagnation, the upcoming iPhone update leaves me cold. Not being locked in means I can evaluate all the options and see which I like best. And I certainly won't be giving much thought to features that require locking myself into a specific manufacturer or OS.
Two reasons make this obvious.
1. There are many different varieties of features and form factors with Andoid which people can and do switch around
2. Eco System - if one invests in the Apple eco system - there's no where to go re: phones
1. There are many different varieties of features and form factors with Andoid which people can and do switch around
2. Eco System - if one invests in the Apple eco system - there's no where to go re: phones
It matters quite a lot to the manufacturers...If anyone of them made good phones their customers were enjoying, then people would say they want another one. It is funny how people keep wanting to make Android into a thing it is not. It is the only way the numbers look good. THe problem is no one is making much money of that thing and it is not sustainable forever.
Two of the top 5 Android manufacturers lost money last year. A third (Samsung) has had profits in free fall for two quarters in a row. How long can it continue? This is more bad news, no matter how you try to spin it. HTC is really the only company making a go of it. Wonder if that has anything to do with their lead in this survey (Among Android manufacturers.
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Loyalty has nothing to do with it? Being blindly led into Apple's closed eco system has everything to do with it.
Catastrophe for Nokia
That iPhone users are loyal comes as no surprise. That's what happens when you look after your customers.
What is surprising is the catastrophic results for Nokia (second chart). It was obvious they would lose out significantly to Apple et. al., but to this extent?
I'm about to be one of their lost customers. I've been a fan of Nokia since digital mobiles came to market around 16 years ago - almost all of my phones have been Nokias.
So why am I switching? 1) Nokia phones no longer sync with OSX Lion. True this is primarily Apple's fault and I really do resent Apple "manipulating" me in this underhand way. But Nokia have had years to develop a user-friendly interface to OSX and they haven't bothered (their Windows interface is pretty sh**** too). That is NOT looking after your customers. And 2) Nokia have got into bed with Microsoft. Sorry, Nokia, there is no way on this earth that I'm moving to Microsoft! That is certainly not looking after your customers!
That iPhone users are loyal comes as no surprise. That's what happens when you look after your customers.
What is surprising is the catastrophic results for Nokia (second chart). It was obvious they would lose out significantly to Apple et. al., but to this extent?
I'm about to be one of their lost customers. I've been a fan of Nokia since digital mobiles came to market around 16 years ago - almost all of my phones have been Nokias.
So why am I switching? 1) Nokia phones no longer sync with OSX Lion. True this is primarily Apple's fault and I really do resent Apple "manipulating" me in this underhand way. But Nokia have had years to develop a user-friendly interface to OSX and they haven't bothered (their Windows interface is pretty sh**** too). That is NOT looking after your customers. And 2) Nokia have got into bed with Microsoft. Sorry, Nokia, there is no way on this earth that I'm moving to Microsoft! That is certainly not looking after your customers!
GS17
macrumors member
Well, I don't like this article at all. Why do they realeased this survey just before the launch event? Does this mean that Apple will not release a completely new iPhone 5, only an upgraded 4S and they want to assure customers that iOS 5 / iCloud is enough reason to stick to the iPhone even if they're planning to upgrade coming from an iPhone 4 and that the event will be a launch for it with just a few spec bumps across the line of products running it (iPhone, iPod Touch and maybe iPad)?
I have got every iPhone so far and will continue to get every iPhone on the day of release, it is as close to perfection as you can get
nagromme
macrumors G5
And yet even the Android platform as a GROUP only has 55% retention, FAR worse than iOS even when those two factors have been taken out of the equation.
More than half of the people switching plan on switching to iPhone, so that would also suggest Android retention as a whole is very, very low. (relatively)
rjohnstone
macrumors 68040
Left the iPhone back in January and haven't looked back.
Every app I used on my iPhone was available for Android, so nothing was really missed. Ok... I had to wait 3 weeks for the Netflix app to work properly.
Contrary to the BS that nagromme posted, you don't loose anything of consequence when switching between Android phones.
Apps (Android Market takes care of that part), music, wallpapers, contacts, email messages and settings and yes even game progress can be saved and easily transferred. Remember... we have MicroSD cards. Drag and drop baby. 😉
I've gone from Samsung devices to Motorola and all my Android app purchases AND settings followed.
Only the proprietary crap was lost. Samsung uses a proprietary launcher that has some incompatible settings that nobody really cares about losing anyway.
I still laugh every time my wife starts complaining about her iPhone 4 not being able to view her web sites and then grabs my Atrix.
Every app I used on my iPhone was available for Android, so nothing was really missed. Ok... I had to wait 3 weeks for the Netflix app to work properly.
Contrary to the BS that nagromme posted, you don't loose anything of consequence when switching between Android phones.
Apps (Android Market takes care of that part), music, wallpapers, contacts, email messages and settings and yes even game progress can be saved and easily transferred. Remember... we have MicroSD cards. Drag and drop baby. 😉
I've gone from Samsung devices to Motorola and all my Android app purchases AND settings followed.
Only the proprietary crap was lost. Samsung uses a proprietary launcher that has some incompatible settings that nobody really cares about losing anyway.
I still laugh every time my wife starts complaining about her iPhone 4 not being able to view her web sites and then grabs my Atrix.
What a constructively utterly useless reply.
89% 'APPARENTLY' and it's not a World Wide figure, have been forced into the Apple Eco system, because I can't remember the last time I heard a sales person state 'you do know if you buy an app from the Apple app store, it will ONLY work on apple iOS products?'
In fact, it's probably verging on mis selling.. but then Androids the same.
Please post a video of a site working on your Atrix and not on the iPhone 4. Would love to see it.
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It is true that Apps purchased in the App store will only work on iOS devices. What part of that do you dispute? P.S. No one has been forced into anything. Your conjecture also does not explain the fact that more than half the people switching platforms are planning on going to iOS.
haters will hate! (i hated the xbox 😀)
for me, i'd buy into wp in an instant, if they had one single device that was attractive enough. the software, albeit missing here and there - not the least in the app department (for now), is quite stunning.
nokia, do your job damnit!
My thoughts on this
Well,
For one just coming on board with a smart phone, I have every right to feel resentful of Apple. They FLAT OUT REFUSE to allow t-mobile to get the iphone and I had to get an HTC Sensation 4G which is a great phone and Android is nice, but I would have wanted the iphone.
Seems like Steve and Cook don't want my money at all since I am on a carrier that will never most likely ever get the iphone. For that, I resent Apple with vehemence.
Well,
For one just coming on board with a smart phone, I have every right to feel resentful of Apple. They FLAT OUT REFUSE to allow t-mobile to get the iphone and I had to get an HTC Sensation 4G which is a great phone and Android is nice, but I would have wanted the iphone.
Seems like Steve and Cook don't want my money at all since I am on a carrier that will never most likely ever get the iphone. For that, I resent Apple with vehemence.