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iPhone owner loyalty declines for first time ever

Research firm Strategy Analytics reports that for the first time in its existence, user loyalty has dropped for Apple's iPhone. According to its numbers, 88 percent of US iPhone owners say they're likely to buy another iPhone when they need one, as opposed to the 93 percent that said the same last year. In Western Europe, 75 percent of iPhone owners will stick with the platform, as opposed to 88 percent a year previous. Obviously, 88 percent loyalty is still a phenomenal amount of owners who plan to stick with the platform going forward, and Apple is still gaining new customers for its devices as well -- this weekend's iPad numbers show that very clearly.

But this does represent just how far other smartphones have come in the past few years in terms of at least catching up to where Apple is at. When Apple first started out in the smartphone market, it was years ahead of where other phone manufacturers were, and the iPhone 5, beautiful as it is, shows that Apple still has an edge. There are now other options for smartphone users out there now, however, and I think the small drop in these numbers shows even iPhone users are willing to at least look elsewhere for their next devices.