67% of American consumers choose iPhone over Android for their next smartphone

“A recent study reveals that most Americans are more interested in iPhones than in devices running Google’s mobile operating system,” Bogdan Popa reports for Softpedia News.
“Conducted by Robert W. Baird & Co., the semi-annual survey included 1,500 US consumers who were asked to choose between iPhone and Android for their next phone,” Popa reports. “Out of these respondents, only 15 percent said they plan to purchase a new smartphone in the next 2 months, and 67 percent of them added they would choose an iPhone.”
“This means the intention of buying an iPhone has increased from 60 percent in the previous surveys,” Popa reports. “‘Our semiannual U.S. Apple survey confirms slowing smartphone purchase intent, but on a bright note, suggests continued strong iPhone share,’ analyst William Power is quoted as saying by Barron’s. ‘That, coupled with success with newer products like Apple Watch, and services like Apple Music, underscores the ecosystem opportunity.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Higher smartphone prices overall are good for Apple because it makes a smartphone a real investment rather than an annually-replaced bauble. The stakes for buyers are raised. Buyers say to themselves, “If I’m going to spend that kind of money, and use it for 3+ years, I might as well get a real iPhone.”
This is why Apple owns the premium smartphone market and why iPhone purchase intent is rising.
Again, units don’t matter. There are only so many quality users on the planet. Keeping them happy, as every measure of customer satisfaction shows Apple has amazingly well done to date, is what matters. As long as the users buy apps on the App Store, subscribe to Apple Music, add iCloud storage, use Apple Pay, etc., they can replace their hardware with Apple hardware at their own pace.
iPhone has higher customer satisfaction than Android, meaning that Apple gains iPhone users from Android via normal churn as users graduate to real iPhones. — MacDailyNews, January 21, 2019
Yes, the iPhone replacement cycle is lengthening, but with so many iPhone (and iPad) users and with customer satisfaction so high, it really doesn’t matter. The market is mature and there are only so many quality users on the planet. Apple has that market cornered. The types of people who’ve settled for Android aren’t likely to buy as many apps or subscribe to services. They want free. They’re not worth much after the sale. The iPhone knockoff peddlers like Samsung can have them.
This is, of course, Apple’s point with ceasing the reporting of unit sales. It’s the user base, the quality of the user base, and services that matter more now. That’s where the growth is and where it will be for many, many years to come. — MacDailyNews, January 5, 2019