In our recent Smartphone Buyers Insights Survey 2022, we surveyed over 15,000 people on various aspects involved in buying a smartphone. We told you about the changing trends in smartphone ownership, with Apple looking to overtake Samsung soon as the preferred brand. In this article, we take a close look at how people decide on a new smartphone. We asked our survey participants their primary reason to buy a new smartphone, the frequency of upgrade, how they research a new phone, and more, and here are the insights.
Primary reason for buying a new phone
- The biggest reason people buy a new smartphone is that their current phone does not work as well as it used to. Almost 50 percent of our survey participants buy a new phone just to get an upgrade.
- Roughly 36 percent of our survey respondents buy a new phone because they want to own the latest phone or a device with newer specs. This is understandable as the latest smartphones boast newer technology and upgraded features.
- Interestingly, men are more likely to buy a new phone just to get an upgrade compared to women, according to our survey.
Frequency of smartphone upgrade
- With mobile technology evolving rapidly year after year and good quality phones getting affordable in India, people are rarely sticking to a phone for more than 3 years. In fact, almost 45 percent of people upgrade their phone within 2 years. 22 percent of them tend to upgrade within a year.
- Still, a majority (56.6 percent) of people prefer to use a phone for more than 2 years. This is likely because smartphone performance and longevity have improved over the years, even in the affordable segment.
How people decide on a new phone
- Around 50 percent of people among our survey participants research a new phone on gadget websites or on YouTube before buying.
- 91mobiles, MySmartPrice, and GSMArena are among the most preferred websites for researching phones.
- Men are more likely to check gadget websites or watch reviews on YouTube compared to women, according to our survey.
- 1 in 5 people look to their friends and family for recommendations on a new phone.
- When it comes to buying through stores, people still prefer visiting brick and mortar stores over buying through online platforms like Amazon and Flipkart.
