Four in 5 iPhone users will buy another one; 4 in 5 Android users bailing

July 23, 2010 by Beatweek

iPhone users are pleased with their overall user experience to the tune of about four in five of them saying they plan to buy another iPhone when the time comes. In contrast, only one in five Android users say they expect to ever buy another Android phone, says CNN. The new data further shatters the myth that the iPhone is losing momentum to the competing Android platform, and instead helps confirm the theory that most consumers buying an Android are doing so because they want an iPhone but aren’t willing to switch to AT&T just to get one; they instead settle for using an Android with their current carrier as a quasi-iPhone compromise. The fact that eighty percent of Android users plan to go elsewhere with their next phone purchase strongly suggests that most Android users are quickly concluding that the Android experience is not an adequate substitute for the iPhone experience.

Speaking of cellular carriers, despite the large number of Verizon customers who claim that every iPhone user they encounter is having reception problems with AT&T, the same Yankee Group survey reveals that seventy-three percent of current iPhone users are “very satisfied” with AT&T’s service. This data suggests confirmation of the theory that some current customers of Verizon (Sprint, T-Mobile, etc) who want an iPhone but have decided to stick with their current carrier instead, have subsequently been exaggerating the negative experiences of iPhone users they’ve encountered in an effort to rationalize their own decision not to buy one.

Despite continual pleading on the part of tech pundits who’ve all but begged their audiences to switch from iPhone to Android, the iPhone has more than three times the marketshare of Android. Early Android momentum and hype has primarily come from gadget geeks who prefer the Android’s easy hackability and anarchist development structure to that of the iPhone’s well-regulated app store and consistent user experience. And while that type of geek-oriented user is likely to stick with the Android platform for philosophical reasons, this new data reveals a very different story for mainstream consumers who gave the Android a try, eighty percent of whom now have no intention of giving Android a second try. The question now, with eighty percent of current Android users stating their intention to buy a different kind of phone next time around, how many of them will find their way to the iPhone or other competing smartphones like the aging BlackBerry, as compared to how many of them will feel burned enough by their negative Android experience that they’ll revert back to a simple flip-phone? Moreover, of those who are bailing on the Android but still want an iPhone, how many of them will now be willing to finally switch over to AT&T to make it happen? In other words, does Apple still need a Verizon iPhone? In any case, based on these numbers, it’s now clear that Verizon needs a “Verizon iPhone” a whole lot more than its current overconfident Droid television ads would suggest. Here’s more on iPhone vs Android marketshare.

Thanks to Beatweek reader @bgiese for the tip

Editor’s note: the CNN article referenced is right here.

Tell your friends:

Filed Under: Industry News
Tagged: Android, AT&T, iPhone, marketshare

Comments

http://twitter.com/saint16888 Stephen Lee

I can that 77% of current iPhone will buy another iPhone since iPhone is something you either love or hate. If you own one now you probably like it enough to buy another one. However, saying 4 our of 5 Android user will pick something else is hard to believe. I know at least 10 people who use Android phone today and maybe 2 of them would like to switch to iPhone next, none will switch to Windows Mobile, Nokia or Blackberry. So when the author said 4 out of 5 Android users will switch, what are they switching to? All iPhone?
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_IYKLUQPONDB73V4HJKAJDW36TA Samuel

The reason why Android users would not buy another android phone is because Android will always work and will always be updated to the latest, therefore, no need to get another phone unlike apple iphone.
Beatweek

Hi Samuel,

Nice try, but in all my years I don't I've ever seen anyone go as far out of their way to try to intentionally misinterpret the data as you just did. You're suggesting that Android users all plan to keep their current phone literally forever, regardless of mechanical breakdowns and component failures that eventually beset all technology devices. Thanks for the laugh.

Here's reality: eighty percent of Android users are so dissatisfied with the Android platform experience that they've already decided that their next phone will be something else. There are no word to adequately express how dark of a future the Android platform has based on those numbers. What it means, essentially, is that the Android platform has no future beyond the ubergeeks that the platform has been aimed at all along. Mainstream Android users are lining up to get off the Android as fast as they can, and the geeks will the only ones left.

But then, anyone whose head isn't trapped inside the geek bubble could have predicted this from day one. In fact, come to think of it, I did predict exactly this from day one.

Sincerely,
Bill Palmer
Editor in Chief
Beatweek Magazine
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_5KHHPJBGJSVIRIXNLOFQASTI5I Sean H

I cant seem to find the CNN link that both your essays about 80% are about. could you post it. thanks chief
Beatweek

right here
http://twitter.com/JCompany352 Jarred Collier

I find this whole article hard to believe. You sir, are what they call a fanboy. You talk about people trying to rationalize their purchase, it seems that you are guilty of that. I am far from an “ubergeek”, and I could have purchased an iPhone4, or a Droid X. Which did I choose? A Droid X. It's simply a better phone, it has more features, and it's on a better carrier. The iPhone4 might be a “prettier” phone naked, but with a bumper, no thanks.
Dave4321

Any links to the CNN article that 80% of android users won't buy another android phone? I searched the website and couldn't find it.
Beatweek

right here
Beatweek

Hi Jared,

The definition of a “fanboy” is that of someone who looks at the incontrovertible facts and then sticks to their disproven beliefs even more tightly – as you've just shown yourself to be by attempting to dismiss CNN-backed user statistics as “hard to believe.” If you prefer the Droid then good for you, but these statistics clearly demonstrate the the Android platform has no mainstream future. To claim any different makes you the definition of a fanboy. Now go back to your Android forums where you and your comrades can resume pretending that the outside world doesn't exist.

Sincerely,
Bill Palmer
Editor in Chief
Beatweek Magazine
Dave4321

I wish the actual survey was available to read. I find this kind of hard to believe though, considering Android market share grew 44% (9 to 13%) between February and May. I love my iPhone, but I welcome Android pushing Apple to make better and better phones.
http://twitter.com/JCompany352 Jarred Collier

No mainstream future? 160,000 Android phones sold everyday equals no mainstream future? While the iPhone might have more market share right now, Android is catching up, there's no denying it. Keep living in your little cloud where Steve Jobs is your Messiah, and only surveys done to support the iPhone exist.
Beatweek

How does it feel to spend your days championing a platform eighty percent of whose current users dislike so much that they've already said they're leaving? Throwing around extremist words like “fanboy” and “messiah” in an attempt to distract from the fact that most Android users are running for the exits only makes you look desperate.
Beatweek

Hi Dave,

“I find this kind of hard to believe” isn't a counter-argument to hard statistics. Unless you're accusing CNN of making them up.

And for the record, if you know anything about the way Apple works and thinks, no one at the company gives a damn what's happening on the Android platform. Apple's own innovation goals have never, and will never, be driven by what the competition is doing – particularly when the competition is uniformly churning out products that are only suitable for geeks, while Apple's products are aimed so squarely at the mainstream that the geeks now hate Apple for it.

Sincerely,
Bill Palmer
Editor in Chief
Beatweek Magazine
http://twitter.com/JCompany352 Jarred Collier

Lol, yeah I'm desperate. Dude, regardless of what you say I like my phone. And besides, it's ONLY a phone, it works for me, I actually have a life. No championing here, just stating facts, and when I do, you just deflect them calling me desperate.
Beatweek

You think I don't see you and your cohorts over there in your Droid forums, plotting comment-bomb this article? Now go back to your little corner and resume pretending that CNN that made up the survey that shows eighty percent of Android users already so displeased that they've decided to bail. Go back and resume cheerleading for your failed platform until the bitter end. That's fine. Scurry along now.
Beatweek

Hi Stephen,

“The author” didn't say that 4 out of 5 Android users have stated their intentions to leave the platform; CNN said it, based on hard date. Are you accusing CNN of making it up?

They'll switch to whatever they end up switching to. They were asked if they'll buy another Android phone, and they said no. That means they've already made up their mind to leave. Once they reach the end of the road with their Android phone (whether via end of contract, eventual mechanical failure or just pure frustration), they'll make that decision at that time. Some will probably end up on iPhone, others on a competing smartphone or even back to a flip-phone. But I can tell you didn't read the article before commenting, because that was all covered in the article.

Sincerely,
Bill Palmer
Editor in Chief
Beatweek Magazine
Pingback: Randy's Home On The Interwebs » Blog Archive » links for 2010-07-25 - Liberty Means Defending Someone Else's Right To Do What You Don't Like.