Chinese smartphone market sees fewer consumers upgrading their phones: study

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The lack of innovation in the Chinese smartphone industry has made consumers less interested in upgrading their phones. This is the most important finding from the report released this year by Penguin Intelligence and China Tech Insights.

With a survey that involved 73,900 Chinese netizens, the report covers how frequent Chinese consumers upgrade their smartphones, the proportion of online and offline sales of smartphone brands, elements that influence brand preference, user satisfaction and loyalty, and the user flow between brands.

A glance at some key findings

1. The number of Android users who update their smartphones annually dropped from 34.7 percent last year to 23.5 percent this year. The same goes for iPhone users, which saw a decrease from 27.8 percent to 16 percent.
2. People who update their phones most frequently are Xiaomi users. Meanwhile, iPhone users are the least frequent to update their phones.
3. The iOS system is the foremost reason why users stick with the iPhone.
4. Android phones’ lower price bracket is its biggest advantage over the more expensive iPhone.
5. People who responded, “I am happy with the brand, but I want to shift to another brand,” are mostly Oppo and Vivo users.
6. The majority of previous iPhone users switched to Huawei.

Willingness to upgrade phones

The proportion of Android users (those who’ve never used an iPhone) who upgrade their phones at least once a year has dropped from 34.7 percent last year to 23.5 percent this year. For iPhone users, the percentage decreased from 27.8 percent to 16 percent. Overall, Android users upgrade their smartphones more frequently than iPhone users.

For major smartphone brands, the majority of users change their phones twice a year. But Xiaomi users change their phones most frequently, with 32.3 percent of them upgrading at least once a year.

Sales channels

Nearly half or 49.6 percent of iPhone users reported that they bought an iPhone from offline retail stores, while 25.3 percent of them said they bought online.

Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo differ drastically in terms of their sales channels. Over 78 percent of Xiaomi users bought online, and more than 60 percent of Oppo and Vivo users purchased offline.

Factors influencing brand preference

User satisfaction and brand loyalty

User flow between brands

Conclusion