Fewer Android users switched to iOS last year, but it's still a problem

What you need to know

• A report from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) found that 13% of iPhone buyers switched from Android to iOS in 2023.

• The number is a decrease from the prior year's figure, which saw 15% of iPhone buyers come from an Android phone.

• However, over a five-year period, iPhone buyers are coming from Android phones at a steady 11-15% clip.

iPhones are dominating the mainstream market in North America, leaving even the best Android phones left out in the cold. In fact, in the second quarter of last year, iPhones represented 53% of U.S. smartphone shipments, according to Counterpoint Research. However, a new report from the Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) says that fewer iPhone buyers were switching from an Android phone in 2023.

The report concluded that Apple's dominance derives from convincing current iPhone users to buy another. While it does entice a consistent amount of Android users to switch to iOS each year, that number pales in comparison to iPhone upgrades. To that end, at least 85% of iPhone sales are made by users who already own an iPhone, according to the CIRP report.

Meanwhile, CIRP found that 13% of iPhone buyers switched from an Android phone. That's two percent less than the 15% figure from 2022 but equal to or greater than the numbers from 2019-2021. Over the last five years, the percentage of iPhone buyers coming from an Android phone has fluctuated between 11% and 15%.

The report's findings are both good and bad news for Android smartphone manufacturers. On the one hand, the rate of Android users jumping ship in favor of iOS isn't growing sharply each year. On the other, there is a steady number of Android users leaving the platform behind in favor of iOS each year.

For what it's worth, Android is still the champion in the global smartphone market. Android powers nearly 70% of all smartphones worldwide, according to a report from Statcounter that spanned January 2023 to January 2024. No other operating system is even close, with iOS coming in at nearly 30% — less than half that of Android.

But it's clear that Android is losing to iOS in key markets. In another report covering the same time period, Statcounter found that 61% of smartphone users in the U.S. run iOS.

While it certainly could be worse, Android OEMs will have to do something to stop the bleeding and hold onto valuable North American market share.