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Samsung is stealing away iPhone owners, but that's only half the story
With the release of Samsung's Galaxy S5, there is bound to be a whole lot of people upgrading their current devices to the new Android flagship. CNET recently ran a story on the number of iPhone owners switching teams for the Galaxy S5, citing stats from UK trade-in site CompareMyMobile. According to the company's data, which tracks upgrade intent while providing trade-in quotes for customers, almost 38% of people upgrading to the Galaxy S5 are current iPhone owners. If this were the whole story, it would be bad news for Apple, but it's not. It's really only half the story. I contacted CompareMyMobile to get the other half, and the full data set offers a much clearer picture. For starters, Apple users aren't the only ones looking for a change; Out of all Samsung device owners looking to upgrade, 29.32% are doing so for an Apple device. That leaves a much slimmer percentage in the green for Samsung. But that's not all. There's another important stat to consider, and that is overall churn. According to the company, the most traded-in brand is -- surprise! -- also Samsung, with 40.44% of trade-ins coming from Samsung owners. Apple follows with 26.16. So while the percentage of Apple users seeking out Samsung's new flagship phone may appear high on its own, the number of Samsung owners jumping ship for Apple -- which, remember, is a much higher percentage than iPhone users -- is higher still. It's also important to remember that these numbers pitch and sway like waves in a hurricane, and when the next generation of iPhone debuts it's certain to bring iPhone trade-in numbers up substantially once again. But for anyone thinking that the Galaxy S5 is somehow the oft-whispered iPhone killer, it's important to get a glimpse of the bigger picture.
