Just what do smartphone manufacturers have to do to beat the almighty iPhone? It’s a question that’s no doubt been asked in boardrooms around the world – but they might not like the answer.
It would seem that the iPhone has now become so large that it is essentially unbeatable: 59% of iPhone users in a recent survey confessed that their main reason for sticking with Apple when upgrading their smartphone is simply blind loyalty.
SimOnlyContracts, a neutral retailer specialising in SIM cards, conducted a recent survey of 2,275 adult British iPhone owners. When asked ‘What version of the iPhone do you currently own?’ the majority, 52%, stated they owned an iPhone 5, whilst 29% owned an iPhone 4/4S and just 9% owned an iPhone 3/3GS. 10% of the respondents said that their handset was an iPhone 5C or 5S, Apple’s latest models.
When asked what their previous phone was, a majority of 54% answered with an older iPhone model.
That 54% were then asked why they went with back-to-back iPhones: 37% claimed it was due to the fact they were used to the interface. 28% simply said it seemed to be the best phone for them at the time of switching, whilst 25% said it was due to the fact friends and/or family members had iPhones. All fairly common, reasonable explanations, and something that other manufacturers are fully aware of.
However, when asked if they were guilty of blind loyalty 59% responded ‘yes’. When asked why this was the case and told to state multiple reasons if they so wished, 78% of these respondents claimed that they ‘couldn’t imagine having a different type of phone now’. 52% also said that they had just been ‘really impressed’ with their iPhone, making them trust Apple when it came to handsets.
So, what can competitors do to rival the iPhone? It seems that not even the customer could tell you.