A high number of Android smartphone users switched to iPhones between April and June 2021, Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed during the company’s Q3 2021 earnings report call on Wednesday.
The Cupertino giant reported above expected numbers during the last quarter, with revenue increasing 36% year-over-year to $81.4 billion and profits surging 93% to $21.7 billion.
Although Cook did not share official numbers on device sales, he said many people bought their first iPhone during this period.
In addition, a record number of current iPhone users upgraded to newer models.
“We had strong double-digit growth for switchers and for upgraders,” Cook said in response to a question. “In fact, it was our largest update quarter ever.”
With Android being iOS’ only major rival in the smartphone space, it’s fair to assume that the bulk of switchers were from that ecosystem.
Cook also said that other Apple products saw a big increase in new adopters, with 75% of Apple Watch purchases across the world among first-time buyers.
Cook’s feedback did not include how many Apple users switched to Android during this period.
Apple’s own internal research documents, which it tabled during its court battle with Epic Games, showed it previously lost iPhone customers to other smartphone brands during 2019 and 2020.
This was at its worst level between September 2019 and March 2020 (Q1 2020 and Q2 2020), when Apple lost 26% of iPhone owners to other brands.
Loyalty to the iOS ecosystem jumped back to 88% in the quarter after this, showing that only 12% of iPhone users switched.
Apple used these figures to illustrate that its customers could choose to move to other devices if they felt that its App Store policies were too tight.
The graph below shows loyalty to the iOS ecosystem over five quarters between January 2019 and July 2020.
Main Image: techjuice
