Apple is known for its rabidly devoted customers, who live in the ecosystem and buy anything Apple sells.
Consumer Intelligence Research Partners notes that the tech giant is counting on that devotion to sell a new foldable iPhone for $2,000 or more, and a smart home screen that costs significantly more than the competition from Amazon and Google.
CIRP tracks loyalty and has asked new phone buyers about their last phone, too. This allows the research group to measure loyalty to smartphone operating systems and brands, and also mobile carriers.
CIRP says that, over time, it’s seen that operating system loyalty remains very high, as it becomes increasingly difficult to persuade a customer to learn an entirely new way of using a familiar necessity such as a smartphone.
CIRP defines loyalty as the percentage of survey subjects with one operating system (iOS or Android) that purchased a smartphone with that same operating system. The research group uses its quarterly survey of all phone purchasers, rather than its quarterly survey of Apple customers, for this analysis. That survey includes US smartphone buyers that acquired a new or used smartphone in the three months preceding the survey.
iPhone loyalty varies a bit each year. It hovers around 90%. However, CIRP found that Android loyalty is slightly higher. In the most recent period (the twelve months ending September 2026), Apple iOS enjoyed 90% loyalty This was the same as in 2025, and within the 87-93% range for the past five years.
I hope you’ll help support Apple World Today by becoming a patron. Almost all our income is from Patreon support and sponsored posts. Patreon pricing ranges from $2 to $10 a month. Thanks in advance for your support.
