More iPhone Users Are Trading In Their Devices For Other Brands, Report Finds

More iPhone users are now trading in their devices for smartphones made my other brands, a report claims.

According to research data compiled by BankMyCell (via CNet), there are fewer iPhone owners who are trading in their old iPhones to get a newer iPhone model. On the other hand, there are more iPhone users who choose to trade in their used iPhones to switch to other brands, particularly Samsung.

According to data collected from over 38,000 people who traded in their smartphones from October 2018, the number of iPhone users holding on to their iPhones or trading their older iPhones for newer ones was about 15.2% lower compared to the number of iPhone users in March 2018.

The report also said about 26% of iPhone users traded in their iDevices to move to another brand. About 18% of iPhone users who traded in their iPhones jumped to a Samsung smartphone.

Factoring in data sourced from other research companies, BankMyCell noted that iPhone loyalty is at its lowest since 2011 at 73%. This is significantly lower than the 92% iPhone loyalty recorded in 2017.

By comparison, only 7.7% of Samsung Galaxy S9 users traded in their devices and switched to an iPhone. Android loyalty is also high: 92.3% of all Android smartphone users who traded in their devices just upgraded to another Android smartphone.

Smartphone use decline expected

While BankMyCell’s report might sound bad for Apple, other research firms note that Apple won’t be the only smartphone company that will experience weaker sales in the coming future -- other smartphone brands will, too.

Research firm Gartner estimates that next year’s global smartphone shipments will decline by 3.8%, or about 68 million units. This, according to Gartner, will be the worst decrease in smartphone shipments to date. Gartner said the cause for this is because more and more smartphone users are holding on to their devices as newer models fail to give them reasons to upgrade.

“If mobile phones don’t provide significant new utility, efficiency or experiences,” Gartner research director Ranjit Atwal explained, “users won’t upgrade them, and will consequently increase these devices’ life spans.”

Research firm eMarketer, on the other hand, predicts that while smartphone use has increased over time and has already overtaken the TV in terms of media consumption, the use of smartphones will “plateau” in 2020 as “consumers become increasingly uneasy about overuse of mobile devices."