Significantly fewer Swiss consumers planning to buy new smartphones

According to the survey, the younger target group in particular is firmly in the hands of Apple devices and the Android counterparts are failing to gain popularity,. Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

In view of rental cost increases, higher health insurance premiums and the continuing presence of inflation, Swiss consumers are increasingly having to pinch pennies. This means saving on non-essential purchases such as smartphones.

Increasingly more Swiss consumers are therefore looking to use their smartphone for longer and are postponing the purchase of a new mobile device, as a survey published on Tuesday shows.

Only around 38% of Swiss people surveyed by the comparison portal Comparis in the “Smartphone Study 2023” intend to buy a new smartphone in the next twelve months. This is a significant decline compared to the surveys in the two previous years, when 45% and 44% respectively still wanted to buy a new device.

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In addition to the rising cost of living, the comparatively low level of technical progress also plays a role in the fact that smartphone purchases are being put on the back burner. “The latest models from well-known smartphone manufacturers often barely differ from their predecessors,” summarises Jean-Claude Frick from Comparis. As a result, demand for new devices is likely to remain comparatively low this year.

At the same time, the intended useful life of smartphones has clearly increased. Just over half of those surveyed intend to use the device for four years or longer. In previous years, only around 40% wanted to use the device for this long. However, the average period of use has remained more or less stable in recent years at around two years.

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Meanwhile, Switzerland remains loyal to the Californian smartphone manufacturer, Apple: Apple’s manufacturer’s market share remains stable at 46.7%. The younger target group in particular is firmly in the hands of Apple devices and the Android counterparts are failing to gain popularity, it is said. However, Samsung (Android) is able to maintain its high market share of just under 36%.

As part of the survey, the market research institute Innofact interviewed over 2,000 people in all regions of Switzerland on behalf of Comparis in November 2023.

Translated from German by DeepL/amva

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