More phone buyers ditch Samsung for Apple, say US figures

More people are ditching Samsung for the Apple iPhone than the other way round, according to new figures from the US.

The figures suggest Apple has poached three times as many new phone buyers from Samsung in the past year as Samsung has pinched from Apple.

A survey of US customers by the numbercrunchers at Consumer Intelligence Research Partners checked in with 500 mobile phone buyers every three months over the past year. The Telegraph reports the figures show a fifth of new iPhone buyers are ditching Android for Apple, but only 7 per cent of Samsung buyers are coming the other way.

Comparing Apple to Samsung is fair considering Samsung is the biggest phone manufacturer in the world. But it's worth pointing out that someone ditching Android only really has Apple to choose from, whereas someone abandoning Apple has a lot more choice: Samsung, HTC, Sony and so on.

However, when buying a smart phone for the first time, the figures suggest most people go for Android rather than Apple. That's probably got a lot to do with the vast range of phones running Android -- and the friendlier range of price tags.

Meanwhile 42 per cent of iPhone buyers upgrade from a previous iPhone. iPhone buyers also tend to be younger, richer, and better educated.

Which is better: Apple or Android? Do you think things are the same here in the UK? Tell me your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page.