iOS devices accounted for 44 percent of all U.S. smartphone activations during the first calendar quarter of 2020, the highest number of activations Apple has seen in a single quarter since 2016.
According to the data sourced from Consumer Research Intelligence Partners, Google's Android operating system was responsible for 56 percent of all activations due to the higher number of Android smartphones out in the wild.
Market share numbers for iOS and Android have largely remained stable over the course of the last few years with just minor fluctuations in activations due to operating system loyalty.
In the quarter ending in March, 89 percent of Android users remained with Android, while 91 percent of iOS users stayed with iOS when activating a new mobile phone. iOS and Android loyalty rates have also fluctuated little over the course of the last three years as people tend to stick with the operating systems they're familiar with.
"Operating system loyalty is stable at very high levels," added Mike Levin, Partner and Co-Founder of CIRP. "For the past four or so years, around 90% of new mobile phone activations stayed with the buyer's previous operating system. Despite Apple's efforts to attract Android users to iOS, and Android handset manufacturers' similar efforts to attract iPhone customers, operating system usage is among the stickiest of all consumer affinities."
CIRP's data was based on a survey of 500 U.S. subjects from April 1 to April 9 that activated a new or used smartphone in the January to March 2020 period. 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.
Wednesday February 19, 2025 8:02 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple today introduced the iPhone 16e, its newest entry-level smartphone. The device succeeds the third-generation iPhone SE, which has now been discontinued.
The iPhone 16e features a larger 6.1-inch OLED display, up from a 4.7-inch LCD on the iPhone SE. The display has a notch for Face ID, and this means that Apple no longer sells any iPhones with a Touch ID fingerprint button, marking the ...
Tuesday February 18, 2025 12:02 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Over the years, Apple has switched from an aluminum frame to a stainless steel frame to a titanium frame for its highest-end iPhones. And now, it has been rumored that Apple will go back to using aluminum for three out of four iPhone 17 models.
In an investor note with research firm GF Securities, obtained by MacRumors this week, Apple supply chain analyst Jeff Pu said the iPhone 17, iPhone...
Thursday February 20, 2025 5:06 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Now that Apple has announced its new more affordable iPhone 16e, our thoughts turn to what else we are expecting from the company this spring.
There are three product categories that we are definitely expecting to get upgraded before spring has ended. Keep reading to learn what they are. If we're lucky, Apple might make a surprise announcement about a completely new product category.
M4...
Wednesday February 19, 2025 11:38 am PST by Juli Clover
Following the launch of the iPhone 16e, Apple updated its iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia pages to give a narrower timeline on when the next updates are set to launch.
All three pages now state that new Apple Intelligence features and languages will launch in early April, an update from the more broader April timeframe that Apple provided before. The next major point updates will be iOS ...
Thursday February 13, 2025 8:07 am PST by Joe Rossignol
In a social media post today, Apple CEO Tim Cook teased an upcoming "launch" of some kind scheduled for Wednesday, February 19.
"Get ready to meet the newest member of the family," he said, with an #AppleLaunch hashtag.
The post includes a short video with an animated Apple logo inside a circle.
Cook did not provide an exact time for the launch, or share any other specific details, so...
Apple today announced its first custom cellular modem with the name "C1," debuting in the all-new iPhone 16e.
The new modem contributes to the iPhone 16e's power efficiency, giving it the longest battery life of any iPhone with a 6.1-inch display, such as the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16.
Expanding the benefits of Apple silicon, C1 is the first modem designed by Apple and the most...
Tuesday February 18, 2025 8:46 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple is permanently closing its retail store at the Northbrook Court shopping mall in the Chicago area. The company confirmed the upcoming closure today in a statement, but it has yet to provide a closing date for the location.
Apple Northbrook opened in 2005, and the store moved to a larger space in the mall in 2017.
Apple confirmed that affected employees will continue to work for the...
It’s a nice phone, and it’s fully loaded. I don’t have any issues with the hardware, it’s the software longevity. If you’re paying over a $1000 for a smart phone, I would expect at least three years or more from android, which you don’t receive. Apple has always been dominant when preserving iOS with at least five years of software updates.
Phone OS loyalty is even more reason for Apple Watch to become smartphone dependent.
is this an "activation"? If so, is it meaningful?
According to the article, it’s based on activations of new mobile phone purchases and what the previous OS of that “activator” was on. The carriers would have that data.
It’s a nice phone, and it’s fully loaded. I don’t have any issues with the hardware, it’s the software longevity. If you’re paying over a $1000 for a smart phone, I would expect at least three years or more from android, which you don’t receive. Apple has always been dominant when preserving iOS with at least five years of software updates.
5s is getting almost 7 years of updates with iOS 12 updates.
So was the XR. Those two "mainstream" phones absolutely fly off shelves.
dislike them both ... they seem more “budget” like missing features. I hope the 5,4/5,8” iPhone 12 models don’t gimp on hardware features this year like the Xr/base 11.
I wonder what an activation signifies- If a family member gives me an iPhone 5 to add to my collection and I reset it and link it to my Apple ID- is this an "activation"? If so, is it meaningful?
