Mobile: Apple vs. Samsung vs. Xiaomi

SellCell has conducted a survey of 5,000 American phone users in early Mar 2021 indicating that Apple iPhone loyalty (willingness to buy the same brand again) is at an all-time high of 91.9% while Android faithfulness is dropping. Samsung users’ loyalty fell from 85.7% in 2019 to 74% in 2021. It only got worse for other brands. (Apple Insider, SellCell)

Google plans to reduce the fees it charges to feature Android apps within its Play store. From 1 Jul 2021, it will take a 15% cut from the first USD1M in sales each year of the apps and any digital goods and services sold within them, rather than its current 30% commission. Google has said 99% of global Android developers did not earn over USD1M a year, so would benefit from a 50% reduction in fees. (CN Beta, TechCrunch, BBC, Google)

According to Strategy Analytics, Strategy Analytics, the global smartphone shipments will rebound +6.5% YoY to reach 1.38B units in 2021. The growth is driven mostly by the improved economic situation as the COVID-19 pandemic weakens, a growing stock of aging smartphones and the operator/vendor push for migration to 5G. For 2021, they believe Xiaomi will emerge as the third largest global smartphone vendor surpassing Huawei. (CN Beta, Strategy Analytics)