Apple’s newest slate of iPhones are helping the company attract more Android users, according to a new study.
In a survey of U.S. Apple customers who purchased an iPhone after Apple released the iPhone XR on October 26, 16% of them were previous Android users who decided to switch to a new iPhone, according to new data from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP). Eighty-two percent of the respondents said that they were upgrading to one of Apple’s new iPhones from a previously released iPhone.
While the data clearly shows that most of Apple’s customers come from its existing user base, the ratio of Android upgrades is up this year. In the same study in 2017, CIRP found that 11% of iPhone buyers were previously Android users.
Apple’s (AAPL) decision to launch three new iPhones this year could have helped it attract more Android shoppers. The two handsets at the top of the market, the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max, start at $999 and $1,099, respectively. At those price points, their chief competitors are Samsung’s line of handsets, including the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy Note 9. But the iPhone XR and its starting price of $749, makes it more affordable. It also makes it a better to competitor to most other Android devices (GOOGL).
“It appears that iPhone XR did serve to attract current Android users,” CIRP partner Mike Levin said in a statement. “Of course, Apple doesn’t just state plainly its launch strategy. But, based on the pricing and features, we can infer that Apple positioned the iPhone XR to appeal to potential operating systems switchers from Android.”
Regardless of who’s shopping, it appears Apple is on to something with its iPhone XR. CIRP’s data shows the iPhone XR accounted for 32% of total iPhone sales in the 30-day period after its launch. The iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max combined for a 35% share of iPhone sales.
