For the first time since the Apple iPhone was released in 2007, the number of iPhone owners who say they definitely will or probably will purchase their next phone from the same brand has declined in both the US and Western Europe (see iPhone Owner Loyalty Declines: Is Apple Losing its Innovation Edge?)
In 2012 only 75% of iPhone owners in Western Europe say they are likely to buy their next phone from Apple, down from 88% in 2011. Despite this decline, Apple retains a higher repeat purchase intention level than any other major phone manufacturer surveyed by Strategy Analytics. Respondents who say they probably or definitely will not buy their next phone from Apple is low.
It is respondents in Western Europe and the US who are unsure whether they will remain with the same brand or not for their next phone that Apple should be concerned about. Having launched the game-changing original iPhone in 2007, Apple is no longer the innovator it once was. At the launch of the Apple iPhone 5, one of the biggest changes compared to previous iPhones was an increase in display size from 3.5" to 4.0". However, previous Strategy Analytics research suggest that existing smartphone owners want something even bigger, with 4.3" the most preferred size in our 2011 size preference research (Smartphone Owners Want Thin Devices with Larger Displays), while early provisional results from an update to this research suggest that 4.5? may be the most preferred size for respondents surveyed from June-December 2012. It should also be noted that most of Apple's leading competitor's flagship devices have a considerably larger screen - the Samsung Galaxy SIII at 4.8", the HTC One X and Motorola RAZR HD at 4.7" and the Nokia Lumia 920 at 4.5".
There is no doubt that Apple is continuing its success (figures released by Apple show that the over five million iPhone 5's were sold in the first three days alone). However, on the back of a lack of recent innovation from Apple we are starting see growth in the number of previously highly loyal consumers who are considering whether or not they will purchase a new iPhone for their next device.
- Paul Brown