Are too many Android users switching to iPhones harming Apple?

Accordingly, the rate of Android users switching to iPhone has reached its highest level in the past 5 years with 17% in the second quarter of 2024, a significant increase compared to 10% in the same period last year.

However, according to CIRP, attracting more Android users to switch to iPhone is not only not a positive signal for Apple, but on the contrary, it can harm sales of the latest iPhone line.

In Q2 2024, iPhone 15 sales accounted for only 67% of total iPhone sales in the US, down from iPhone 14 sales which accounted for 78% in Q2 202. This is the second consecutive quarter of increased popularity. of iPhone 15 is lower than iPhone 14 in the same period.

According to CIRP, the reason why iPhone 15 sales are lower than expected may be due to the increase in Android users switching to iPhone.

The reason is because Android users when switching to iPhone often tend to choose older models with lower prices because they want to experience the feeling of using an iPhone and save money. Therefore, a cheap model is still enough for them. And this is why older iPhone models such as iPhone 14, iPhone 13 and iPhone SE are selling better than the newly launched iPhone 15 series.

Notably, this trend happens even when the new iPhone has not yet been released. This suggests that there are other factors such as purchasing other Apple products (e.g. iPad) and wanting to take advantage of the Apple ecosystem, that are driving Android users to switch to iPhone.

On the Android side, this situation poses big challenges as young people, especially in the US, tend to prefer iPhones over Android.

Marvin Fry

Update 25 July 2024