Android Switchers Modestly Aid Apple

As we consider Apple’s recent financial results and more importantly its expected future results, iPhone always dominates the discussion. Growth in iPhone sales often drives overall results and one element is how much growth will come from Android users. Turns out that it’s a steady but modest flow.

We’ve long asked US iPhone buyers what kind of mobile phone they owned before the iPhone that they just bought. In recent years, a very small number of these customers either bought an iPhone as their first mobile phone or switched from a basic flip phone. The vast majority already had an iPhone, and a small but measurable percentage switched from an Android phone.

In the past five years, the percentage of iPhone buyers who switched from Android to iPhone has ranged from 11-15%. In the past 12 months, 13% of US iPhone buyers reported switching from an Android phone (Chart 1).