MANILA, Philippines – An annual industry report revealed that Android users may be more loyal than iOS users when it comes to sticking to a phone operating system (OS).

The study tracked whether users switched to the competing OS or stuck to an OS when they bought a new phone in 2017.

Conducted by US-based Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP), the study found that 91% of Android users stuck to the platform and bought another phone running on Android. The percentage is lower for Apple iOS users, although not by a much: 86% of iOS users stuck to iOS and bought a new phone running on Apple’s platform. 

For two full years, from January 2016 to December 2017, Android retained a higher percentage of its users, hovering from 89% to 91%, as TechCrunch notes. In the same period, iOS retention rates hovered from 85% to 88%.

Based on historical data from the CIRP, Android has been in the driver’s seat in terms of user retention percentage since June 2014, when it first eclipsed iOS. Before then, Apple had been the leader in retaining users. 

Mike Levin, a CIRP co-founder, told TechCrunch that at this point, people have decided which OS they like, and switching to a new OS is the exception rather than the rule. “With only two mobile operating systems at this point, it appears users now pick one, learn it, invest in apps and storage, and stick with it,” he said.

“Now, Apple and Google  need to figure out how to sell products and services to these loyal customer bases,” Levin said.

Levin’s comment is a reflection on how the platform wars have shifted to the actual software and services that are available to each system – online shops, apps, content services – than actual hardware or phone choice. 

Lastly, while the retention rates percentages may differ between iOS and Android, both platforms have the same number of users transferring to and from the systems. That is to say: the same number of people has transferred to iOS from Android, and vice versa. This is because Android has a bigger userbase than iOS, which offsets the difference in percentage. – Rappler.com