Samsung Electronics and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) have cemented themselves as the No. 1 and 2 players in the smartphone market, but little is known about where the two companies' customers come from each quarter. However, according to a new report released to Fortune by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, 20 percent of iPhone customers during the past year were switching from an Android smartphone, but only 7 percent of Samsung smartphone buyers had previously owned an iPhone.
The CIRP data comes from a survey the research firm conducted of 500 smartphone buyers from July 2012 to June 2013, according to Fortune.
Forty two percent of Apple's customers between July 2012 and June 2013 were upgrading from another iPhone, the research found. Similarly, 43 percent of Samsung's smartphone buyers had previously owned an Android phone, but not necessarily a Samsung Android phone.
Interestingly, the report found that iPhone buyers tend to be younger than Samsung smartphone buyers. That could partly explain why Samsung was able to win over more first-time smartphone buyers upgrading from feature phones (37 percent) than Apple did (26 percent), as many consumers who still own feature phones tend to skew older.
The report paints a portrait of Apple as a company that has been adept at getting customers to switch from other smartphone brands. Among buyers who switched brands, the research found, Apple took three times as many from Samsung (33 percent) as Samsung took from Apple (11 percent). Meanwhile, Samsung stole more smartphones customers from HTC, Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Motorola Mobility and Nokia (NYSE:NOK), while Apple got more from BlackBerry (NASDAQ:BBRY).
Samsung remains on top in the overall smartphone market thanks mainly to the wide array of price points and form factors it offers, especially for its line of Galaxy-branded smartphones. However, Apple is likely to gain back market share as the fall commences, as it is expected to launch a new iPhone model, as well as potentially a less-expensive model with cheaper components.
In terms of new iPhone rumors, TechCrunch reported over the weekend that, according to unnamed sources, Apple will offer a gold version of the next flagship iPhone. Apple has not said anything regarding when it will announce the next iPhone, but AllThingsD has pegged Sept. 10 as the date for the unveiling, according to unnamed sources.
For more:
- see this Fortune article
- see this CNET article
- see this TechCrunch article
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