Analysts Predict iPhone Will Overtake Android Market Share by 2015 [feedly]

 
 

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Analysts Predict iPhone Will Overtake Android Market Share by 2015

It might sound a little unintuitive, but according to a poll of 16,000 consumers conducted by the Yankee Group last month, iPhone ownership in the United States will surpass that of Android devices by 2015 through consumer loyalty alone.

Based on the Yankee Group's findings, 91 percent of iPhone owners seek another iPhone when it's time for an upgrade, while only 76 percent of Android device owners seek another Android device. And what of that 24 percent of Android device owners seeking an a new phone? Almost three quarters of them plan to purchase an iPhone.

That seems odd in light of the recent news of Android's widespread adoption in overseas markets, but Yankee Group analyst Carl Howe argues Apple's interconnected ecosystem of iTunes, the App Store, iCloud and related features ensures a remarkable degree of consumer loyalty in the U.S.

"Apple's 'black hole' ecosystem captures subscribers who never leave, while Android smartphones are losing one out of every six customers to other manufacturers. These trends will drive Apple ownership well past Android ownership by 2015 and will reinforce Apple's dominance in tablets as well," Howe said.

VentureBeat reports that there may be truth to the findings. In January, Kantar Worldpanel revealed that Apple temporarily captured the majority of American smartphone sales in late 2012. Also, they reported that ComScore discovered that the iPhone's market share grew by 11 percent recently while Android's fell by 4 percent.

As AllThingsD reports, Howe believes that Android's acceptance has peaked. He put it this way:

"Think of the Apple and Android ecosystems as two buckets of water. New smartphone buyers — mostly upgrading feature phone owners — fall like rain into the two big buckets about equally, with a smaller number falling into Windows Phone and BlackBerry buckets. However, the Android bucket leaks badly, losing about one in five of all the owners put into it. The Apple bucket leaks only about 7 percent of its contents, so it retains more of the customers that fall into it. The Apple bucket will fill up faster and higher than the Android one, regardless of the fact that the Apple bucket may have had fewer owners in it to begin with."

If Howe's analysis is correct, then Apple's consumer loyalty will win a slow but steady victory over the recent surge of Android sales.

(Via AllThingsD) 

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