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Research firm Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) highlights the actual position of iOS in the US smartphone market. According to the report, iOS only has a “minority share,” opposing the primary belief that Apple is the dominating power in the country.
The report shows the US market shares of iOS based on the quarterly survey of mobile phone customers, wherein CIRP used the 2019 to 2023 data, with twelve months ending in September of each year. In general, the data reveals that iOS indeed has less than half of the smartphone market share in the US, with its percentage having 37% as its lowest and 46% as its highest in the past five years.
The figures indicate the consistent position of iOS in the battle as a secondary player in the market, although it almost succeeded in dethroning its rival in 2020 when the pandemic was at its peak. Unfortunately for Apple, this 46% figure gradually dropped in the next years, albeit it managed to earn a small increase this year at 39% from 37% last year.
CIRP says iOS’ position “has been this way for quite some time,” adding there is “little switching between iOS and Android” to encourage a major shift. As the firm explains, with Android and iOS being the duopoly players in the US, there’s now a “consistent pattern” in their market shares, with iOS obviously being the second placer.
On a positive note, there’s hope for Apple to attract more customers in future quarters. According to a survey by investment bank and financial services company Piper Sandler, the iPhone is the top choice among its respondents. Eighty-seven percent of teens in the survey have an iPhone, while 88% of the surveyed participants shared plans to choose an iPhone as their next mobile.
Counterpoint Research also spotted the same interest among South Korean teens in August, revealing that more and more young customers are switching to iOS. According to the firm’s survey conducted in the first half of 2023, 85% of the 1,000 respondents revealed buying Android as their first phone, but 53% of them switched to iOS. Meanwhile, 92% of the respondents who said they purchased iPhones as their first phone were reportedly still using iPhones.
