iPhone XR Enticing Android Users to Switch, Accounts for 32 Percent of iPhone Sales: CIRP

Amid reports of Apple halting a production boost for its newest iPhones due to slower than expected demand, a new survey of US customers revealed that more Android users switched loyalty to Apple this year than in previous years.

Leading the transition for Android users is iPhone XR, a relatively cost-effective model that debuted alongside the iPhone XS and top-of-the-line iPhone XS Max this year, according to the survey by US-based research firm Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP).

The findings showed that 16 percent of iPhone buyers upgraded from an Android phone in the 30-day period after the launch of the iPhone XR.

This is much higher than the 12 percent of iPhone buyers who upgraded from an Android phone after the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus were released in September 2017.

That number was 11 percent when the iPhone X was released in November 2017, the report said.

"It appears that iPhone XR did serve to attract current Android users," said Mike Levin, CIRP Partner and Co-Founder.

"Of course, Apple doesn't just state plainly its launch strategy. But, based on the pricing and features, we can infer that Apple positioned the iPhone XR to appeal to potential operating systems switchers from Android," Levin said.

The CIRP research found that the new iPhone XR accounted for 32 percent of total US iPhone sales in the 30-day period, while the XS and XS Max together accounted for 35 percent.

The 32 percent share of iPhone sales for the XR model compares favourably to the 30 percent share for iPhone X in the similar timeframe last year, but lags the combined share of iPhone 8 and 8 Plus during that period last year, the report said.

CIRP based its findings on its survey of 165 US Apple customers that purchased an iPhone in the US in the 30 days following the launch of iPhone XR on October 26, 2018.