According to AppleInsider , CIRP analyzed iPhone buyer data over the past nine years, taking into account the smartphones that iPhone buyers owned immediately before. They found that from March 2022 to March 2023, 15% of buyers said they switched from Android phones, while 83% said they remained loyal to iPhone.

However, the frequency of Android switching has been declining over the past nine years. In the 12 months ending in March 2016, the share of buyers switching from Android smartphones was at its highest, at 21%. That then dropped to 10% in the period ending in March 2020. Since then, there has been a gradual increase, reaching the current rate of 15%. The share of users who repeatedly buy new iPhones has also increased steadily over the same period.

In the survey year ending in March 2015, 69% of buyers said they had switched from one iPhone to another. Since then, that number has increased largely due to fewer buyers being new users or switching from feature phones.

"Switching mobile operating systems is considered a challenge for smartphone owners, so loyalty to one operating system remains very high. However, switching still happens and we track it in our surveys. Over the past year or two, former Android users seem to be making up an increasing proportion of iPhone buyers," CIRP said in its report.

A significant portion of the increase in iPhone ownership among buyers has been due to replacements for other smartphone models such as BlackBerry, Windows, smaller operating systems, and feature phones. In the 12 months ending in March 2015, those accounted for 13% of buyers. But after nine years of iOS and Android dominance, these alternatives have largely disappeared from the market.