Apple Inc. (AAPL) is compared to its rivals in a fresh report issued today by Kantar Worldpanel, and found to have an objective sales advantage thanks to the unique relationship between its iPhone and iPad devices. It was also discovered by those compiling the report that people who own Apple products usually have several and make heavy use of them, indicating that they are tech savvy, forward looking, and have plenty of money – an ideal demographic cash cow for any electronics firm to acquire.
Among tablet owners, iPad users are most likely to have a smartphone as well. Close to 81% of people who own an iPad also own a smartphone, while among Samsung Galaxy Tab tablet owners, smartphone penetration is relatively weak at 57%. Samsung, it should be noted, is second in terms of smartphone users per unit of tablets users. Other companies are even less successful at combining smartphone and tablet sales.
Viewed from a different perspective, 35.4% of iPhone users also buy an iPad. Samsung is once again in second place, but is astonishingly far behind by this measure, with only 19.3% of iPhone sales prompting users to go on to buy a smartphone.
One of the chief reasons for Apple’s (AAPL) advantage in these matters is that its operating system is fully proprietary. Once someone has bought either an iPhone or an iPad, there is a very large incentive to buy the other device. iOS is not compatible with other systems, so those who want or need to use both a smartphone and a tablet naturally gravitate towards buying iOS devices for both. This ensures compatibility and offers less tangible but still important benefits besides, such as a unified aesthetic and the convenience of similar, familiar interfaces.
By contrast, Android’s market is fragmented. Samsung makes both tablets and smartphones, but either will be perfectly compatible with an Android device from one of dozens, if not hundreds, of other firms. There is no reason other than chance or whimsy for an Android user to buy both devices from the same source. Someone with a Galaxy smartphone is likely to use a tablet from a completely different firm, and vice versa.
Apple Inc. (AAPL) enjoys a unique double advantage. Its users are more likely than average to have the money and the high-tech lifestyle that prompts them to buy multiple consumer electronics devices for one household, or even one user. At the same time, its unique product ecosystem means that once a multi-screen user buys one Apple device, they are statistically very likely to buy at least one more.
