New Phone Activations Now Split Evenly Between iOS and Android in the US [Report]

New phone activations are now split evenly been iOS and Android in the US, according to a new report from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners.

Based on analyst of trends in mobile phone activations from April to June 2021, CIRP estimates that Google Android and Apple iOS each had 50% of new activations.

“Apple iOS and Google Android are now roughly at parity in terms of share of buyers,” said Josh Lowitz, CIRP Partner and Co-Founder. “For several years Android smartphones had a significant edge, with over 60% of customers opting for an Android phone in most quarters. In the past couple of years, though, iOS has closed the gap, and now splits the market with Android.”


“Loyalty and switching help explain some of the change in share of new phone activations, with iOS gaining loyalty in a market with minimal switching,” said Mike Levin, CIRP Partner and Co-Founder. “In the most recent quarter, Apple had an edge in loyalty, with 93% of prior iPhone owners upgrading to a new iPhone, compared to 88% of Android owners staying with Android. Over several years, iOS gained about five percentage points in loyalty, while Android remained flat. This allowed Apple to steadily increase the iOS share of new smartphone activations.”

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