• by Aaron Baar , June 13, 2013

Despite Android’s growth as the most popular mobile platform, Apple’s iPhone still commands a huge amount of loyalty among its consumers.

According to recent research from Retrevo/Bizrate Insights, Apple’s loyal fan base remains intact, with very few iPhone owners saying they planned to switch to Android phones with their next purchase. According to the survey of nearly 3,500 consumers, 81% of current iPhone owners said they planned to buy an iPhone with their next purchase, while only 4% said they would buy an Android phone. Conversely, 63% of Android owners said they would buy another Android device, while 23% said their next purchase would be an iPhone.

“A lot of people have been down on Apple recently, and everyone is wondering how much they’re going to innovate without Steve Jobs. [But] it looks like they’re in pretty good shape,” Andrew Eisner, chief gadgetologist at Retrevo, tells Marketing Daily. “Apple products are still so good. These days, it’s all about the [technology] ecosystem, and Apple has a pretty good ecosystem.”

Eisner notes Apple has had a strong head start with its operating system (with a new version, iOS 7, coming out soon) that is easy to use and the same experience across many of its devices. Android, on the other hand, can be adapted for different devices, but that means several different versions of the system can reach the public. 

“It’s the software that sells the hardware,” he says. “This is where Google is struggling.”

Despite the loyalty, however, about a third of current iPhone owners are waiting to see what Apple has to offer with its newest version before committing to buying a new one. One factor working against Apple: its screen size. Seventeen percent of iPhone owners said they were looking for a bigger screen in the next model, and 6% said they would buy a different phone if the screen wasn’t bigger than the current model. 

“Apple has stuck with [a smaller screen], while the rest of the market has gone with larger screens,” Eisner says. “Across the board, whether they’re iPhone owners or not, people want bigger screens.”