iPhone Loses Fans' Love

The number of iPhone users intending to purchase a smartphone of the same brand in the future has decreased for the first time since 2007, according to Strategy Analytics. 

According to the company’s analysts, the number of Apple smartphone owners who said they would “definitely” or “probably” buy an iPhone in the future has seriously decreased over the past year. If a year ago in Europe 88% of iPhone owners were devoted to the “apple” brand, then this year – only 75%. The situation in the US is slightly better, despite the fact that there is also a drop in loyalty. In 2011, 93% of the respondents were Apple supporters, and in 2012 – 88%.

Apple’s sales at the expense of new users, of course, will continue to grow, but the fall in the number of loyal users wondering about possible alternatives should alert Apple, says Taryn Tulay, an analyst at the research company.

The main reason for the decline in interest in the brand is the lack of radical innovations in the company’s latest smartphone, says Paul Brown, director of Strategy Analytics.

Let’s add that the iPhone 5, although it received a huge number of high ratings from the press, but its release was accompanied by a large number of scandals and problems. These are mass fights at Foxconn factories, and the release of questionable iOS 6, and peeling paint from black models of the gadget. Coupled with the shortage of devices observed at first, a far from perfect halo has developed around the iPhone 5, which, apparently, also hit the loyalty of users to the brand.