It’s not just Apple: Android users are more loyal than ever

iPhone users have long had a reputation for dutifully upgrading to the next Apple handset without much thought, but that doesn’t mean everyone else is free-spiritedly bouncing between Android brands. It turns out smartphone owners are becoming more loyal overall, and the numbers prove it.

According to a new SellCell survey of more than 5,000 US smartphone users, iPhone loyalty now stands at 96.4%. That’s no surprise, but Android loyalty isn’t exactly weak at 86.4%. The company says that’s up across the board compared with its earlier surveys, with loyalty to the biggest Android smartphone OEMs rising sharply.

That still leaves Android users far more likely to switch than iPhone owners, with 13.6% saying they’d move versus 3.6% of Apple users. At a glance, that might look like Apple is simply doing a much better job of keeping people on side, but it obviously isn’t a fair comparison. Android users can jump from Samsung to Pixel or another brand and still remain Android users, whereas an iPhone owner who switches brands has left Apple by definition. There will be a subset of users who consider all phone brands at each upgrade, and among them, the only ones considered Apple users are those whose last swap was to an iPhone.

That bit of nuance also helps when you look at where potential switchers say they’d go next. Among Android users considering a move, 31.5% said Samsung, 26.8% said iPhone, and 21.2% said Google Pixel. So yes, Apple is picking up a decent chunk of possible switchers from Android brands, but it doesn’t prove Apple will naturally increase its overall market share based on that stat.

The survey also suggests that price and value are major drivers of movement. For iPhone users considering a switch, 25.8% said other brands offer better value, and 24.7% said iPhones are too expensive. Among Android users, 31.8% cited better value elsewhere, and 27.1% said another brand had better technology.

The most interesting Android-side takeaway may be how much Samsung and Google appear to have recovered in terms of loyalty since 2021. SellCell says Samsung loyalty has climbed from 74.0% to 90.1%, while Google has jumped from 65.2% to 86.8%. Apple is still the stickiest brand in the room, but it’s not the only one whose users seem increasingly reluctant to stray. The cynical take would be that the gap between what brands offer and their pricing is so small these days that users have less reason to consider a new OEM.