A new report by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) says that iPhone owners hold onto their smartphones longer than Android owners
Over the past several years, the research group has tracked the increasingly longer time that iPhone owners have held onto their phones and waited to upgrade. As iPhones became more durable, installment payment plans became more transparent, and Apple introduced fewer must-have new features, iPhone owners have happily waited a little longer to get a new phone, according to CIRP. Android phone owners have a very different ownership pattern.
Using its dataset from all mobile phone buyers, not just Apple device buyers, CIRP says that about one-third new phone buyers who had an iPhone kept that phone for three years or more. Only 21% of new phone buyers who had an Android phone reported it was three or more years old.
However, only about one-third of iPhone owners retire a phone that is less than two years old, while 57% of retired Android phones are less than two years old.
“Clearly, retired Android phones are not as old as retiring iPhones. Of course, Android owners can switch among manufacturers, so they have additional opportunities to consider new feature,” says CIRP. “And, a large percentage of Android phones were less expensive than alternative iPhones, so the Android owners have less invested – economically and emotionally – in their then-current smartphone.”
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