Apple iPhone Owners Show Much More Loyalty than Android, BlackBerry Users

It appears iPhone owners really love their smartphones, as Apple enjoys a retention rate close to 93%, according to a new report. This is dramatically above the rates of all rivals.

The findings, from a new study of smartphone owners by UBS, show 89% of current users of Apple's smartphone saying they would purchase another iPhone as their next handset, with only 6% indicating they intended to switch to a different OEM, and 4% were undecided. Though the survey polled a small number of smartphone owners, only 515, the results are interesting nonetheless. 

Android as a whole had a 55% retention rate, while BlackBerry-maker RIM fell dramatically from 62% a year and half ago to 33% today. RIM wasn’t the only one to fall hard, as Nokia's retention rate dropped from 48% to 24% in the same time period. 

HTC was the next closest manufacturer to Apple in this survey, with a 39% rate, and Samsung was next at 28%. Overall, 45% of those polled already had an iPhone, with 18% owning a BlackBerry, followed by 16% of this worldwide group using a Nokia device. 

In addition, 31% of Android users said they would be willing to move to an iPhone for their next purchase. And they may get their chance as the fifth installment of the Apple smartphone is rumored to be released by mid- or late-October. 

Source: Gigaom