A recent report has suggested that more and more Samsung smartphone users are planning to move elsewhere when they next change phones. What's more, not all of the reasons why are in Samsung's control — Apple’s iPhone is attracting wantaway glances for one of its features in particular. The numbers indicate that, while iPhone users prefer their iPhones, Samsung’s customers are at best lukewarm about their Galaxy devices. This is concerning for Samsung, as attracting Apple users will become more important with a dwindling pool of new users to pull from.
Samsung and Apple are both 800-pound gorillas in the smartphone world. While Samsung doesn’t share in as much rosy press as Apple, it — not Apple — is actually the number one smartphone maker in the world — and the size of its pie is growing. Samsung shipped 76.5 million phones in Q1, up from 59.6 in the same period a year earlier. For its part, Apple shipped 52.4 million phones in Q1, up from 37.1 a year prior. Samsung has traditionally been known for its cutting-edge technology, while Apple has focused on creating the most cohesive experience for its users. New features tend to roll out on Samsung Galaxy devices long before they’ve entered the common lexicon. Those same features may not show up on an iPhone for a year or three later. But as the two companies look to take those features and burnish their images, Samsung very clearly has the heavier load to carry.
When the time comes, only 74 percent of Samsung customers plan to replace their phones with another Samsung device, according to a brand survey of the smartphone industry conducted by SellCell. That’s down 12 percent from a similar 2019 survey. For Apple’s part, 92 percent of its users plan to re-up with the company when they replace their phones. In total, the survey shows that Apple users are nearly 20 percent more loyal to their brand than Samsung users.
Why Samsung Smartphone Users Plan To Switch
Of those Samsung users saying they plan to defect from Samsung, more than half say they will switch to an iPhone. The number one reason given for the switch is privacy, with Apple putting the issue front and center and offering an impressive array of privacy measures. In addition — and a definite surprise in the results — of the people looking to leave Samsung, 25 percent say that it’s the 'value for the money' that is pushing them away. While Samsung has never been the value brand, it has traditionally done a great job of packing lots of features into competitively priced models. Those are tough perceptions to change through a simple marketing blitz. The preponderance of the responses indicates that Samsung has its work cut out for it re-earning its customers’ trust.
The survey that generated these results was conducted by phone in early March of more than 5,000 smartphone users age 18 or older. While the results may be more of a mixed bag for Samsung than Apple, both companies should be happy about one thing. When asked to pick their favorite phones, eight of the top 10 performing models were either iPhones or Galaxies. That’s something both Samsung and Apple should be able to build off of.
Source: SellCell